Johannesburg - Those daisies may not be dangerous, but State Security would prefer that they are priceless as far as the public is concerned.
Getting the cost of the office pot plants and flowers out of the Department of State Security turned out to be a more difficult mission than DA MPs expected.
The DA has sent questions in Parliament to departments about the cost of flowers and pot plants since 2009. Many have ducked the question by referring it to Public Works, as that department deals with building management.
But the State Security Agency (SSA) classified it all as secret.
The first question went to the SSA in June, asking for details of flowers bought.
The DA also wanted to know where the flowers were displayed and who they were for.
State Security Minister David Mahlobo tabled his response to the joint standing committee on intelligence, which sits behind closed doors, so those flowers stayed secret.
To underline the point, Mahlobo’s note to the DA on this was stamped “Secret”.
DA MP David Maynier sent new questions, asking only how much was spent on pot plants and flowers since 2009.
The minister has now replied, in an unclassified response, listing flowers at R6 980 (all spent in 2012/13) and pot plants at R106 189 (all spent in 2011/12 and 2012/13).
Maynier said he was delighted that the “minister of spooks” had finally disclosed the spending.
“One of the biggest challenges to effective parliamentary oversight and scrutiny is the crazy cult of secrecy surrounding the State Security Agency,” said Maynier.
“I hope the flowers and pot plants were sprayed for bugs!”
The SSA did not respond on Thursday to requests for an explanation on the need for secrecy.
The Star