Parly's defence committees to hold closed-door meeting with SANDF on DRC deployment

CAPE TOWN - Parliament's defence committees say they will look to hold a closed-door meeting with the defence force to obtain more details about the deployment of soldiers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Defence Minister Angie Motshekga and South African National Defence Force (SANDF) chief, Rudzani Maphwanya, provided scant information about the South African mission at a joint meeting on Tuesday, saying that equipment and logistical details could not be shared in an open forum.

Co-chairperson of the joint committee on defence, Malusi Gigaba, said that additional information would be needed to determine whether a recommendation should be made to the National Assembly for government to withdraw its troops as political parties across the divide demanded they return home.

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MPs across the room were left frustrated by Minister Angie Motshekga's rudimentary report on the SANDF's DRC mission as tempers flared about the purpose of the deployment.

Gigaba said that Tuesday's meeting was only a precursor to a bigger discussion about operational issues.

"We've got to satisfy ourselves that our men and women in deployment are safe, that they’ve got sufficient equipment to conduct this mission and to ensure a successful execution of the mission to which they are deployed."

He said parliamentarians still needed to scrutinise documents related to the mission and the preparedness of the troops in light of constrained resources and the recent casualties.

"We would like to drill in to understand more, what is it that we know about the nature of this mission, and whether the commanding officers had all the sufficient information for them to take requisite decisions."

Gigaba said that the committees would also want to know whether there was intelligence that indicated South African troops could come under attack and whether they were indeed caught in the crossfire as reported by the SANDF.