IN the recent Budget reading it was disclosed that an amount of R3-billion was allocated to the ”secret defence fund” and a further amount of almost R400-million was allocated to ”secret services”.
There is an urgent need to establish increased parliamentary control and transparency around secret defence spending.
While recognising the obvious need for secrecy in sensitive military areas, there is a corresponding need to strike a balance between necessary secrecy and accountability towards the public.
The Black Sash urges the minister to take immediate steps to prevent abuses of the system which resulted in such aberrations as the CCB and the Inkatha ”slush fund” in the past. _ Mulelle Denills, Black Sash, Cape Town