Pressure mounting for Motshekga to brief Parliament on SA troop deployment in DRC
Although Defence Minister Angie Motshekga has not made any public statement regarding the latest fatalities, indications are that she will brief the parliamentary committee next week.
FILE: Defence Minister Angie Motshekga. Picture: GCIS via Flickr
CAPE TOWN - Pressure is mounting for Defence Minister Angie Motshekga to brief Parliament on the deployment of soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following the deaths of 13 troops since the weekend.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) has been outraged by an eleventh-hour decision by defence committee chairperson, Dakota Legoete, to cancel a meeting originally scheduled for Wednesday, although it was not specifically intended to discuss the DRC matter.
Although Motshekga has not made any public statement regarding the latest fatalities, indications are that she will brief the parliamentary committee next week.
In a WhatsApp exchange with MPs, Legoete on Monday first suggested postponing Wednesday's meeting to give the defence minister time to deal with matters in the DRC.
He also appealed to members not to use the deaths of soldiers for political mileage.
But following pressure from MPs for the meeting to proceed, parliamentarians were already making their way to Cape Town on Tuesday night when they received word of its cancellation.
The DA's Chris Hattingh is accusing Legoete of attempting to stifle debate and oversight on the DRC matter.
"At this stage we are concerned. How are our soldiers going to get out of the DRC, out of the north Kivu area, which is surrounded and now controlled by M23?"
The African Transformation Movement (ATM) has meanwhile written to Parliament's joint standing committee on defence for it to also insist on the minister's appearance before it.
It said that the committee should also scrutinise the budget for the peacekeeping mission and determine whether there's adequate equipment and resources for them to carry out their duties.