Cape Town - The National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) failed to comply with the deadline for tabling the 2013 annual report in Parliament, the Democratic Alliance said on Tuesday.
“The annual report should have been tabled, in terms of the National Conventional Arms Control Act, by 31 March, 2014,” DA MP David Maynier said in a statement.
“However, the NCACC failed to comply with the deadline and the 2013 National Conventional Arms Control Committee Annual Report has not been tabled in Parliament.”
Maynier said it would have been the first annual report tabled and would have contained information about the conventional arms sales that had never been disclosed to Parliament.
He said the annual report would have contained detailed information about the type, description and quantity of each “conventional arms sale” authorised by the NCACC in 2013.
“In the past, NCACC chairperson Jeff Radebe has been careful to ensure that the previous annual reports have been tabled before the deadline in Parliament,” said Maynier.
“That the annual report has not been tabled could be interpreted as an attempt to cover up the details of conventional arms sales in order to prevent another arms deal scandal in the run up to the Election 2014.”
The NCACC is chaired by Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Radebe.
Radebe's spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga said the NCACC had in the past few months been involved in the process of developing a format for the enhanced reporting to Parliament.
“This process involved seeking legal and technical advice on the report format in order to balance all applicable interests,” he said.
“This has had unavoidable tabling implications. However the NCACC will table its enhanced and much more transparent annual report in the next few days.”
Maynier said the 2012 annual report which contained details of R10 billion worth of arms sales to 89 countries, was tabled on March, 15, 2013.
“Given the fact that in the past there have been several dodgy conventional arms sales authorised, it is imperative that the NCACC's 2013 annual report be tabled in Parliament.”
Maynier said he would write to Radebe to ask why the deadline was missed.
Sapa