The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Monday called for a secret Armscor forensic report to be discussed in Parliament.
The report, commissioned by defence secretary January Masilela and drawn up by First Consulting, exposes evidence that the country’s arms-control permit system is inadequate, said the opposition party’s defence spokesperson, Andries Botha.
”The system has allegedly been violated to permit the irregular export of South African military hardware and ammunition. The report also recommends the complete overhaul of the watchdog Directorate for Conventional Arms Control [DCAC], which has also been implicated in the contraventions,” he said.
The ”DCAC’s watchdog function was compromised by the fact that it acted to oversee arms-control legislation and protocol, while it was responsible for the issuing of permits at the same time.”
Botha called for Masilela to explain to the defence portfolio committee why the report has been kept secret and that the committee be briefed on the report.
Business Day reported last week that Armscor, the defence procurement agency, has been selling hundreds of millions of rounds of surplus small-arms ammunition into the open market in conflict with government policy.
The November 2005 forensic report also revealsa breach of national security in the export of Ratel infantry assault vehicles.
They were equipped with top-secret codes and algorithms when radios should have been removed from the vehicles before export, the report said. — Sapa