Pretoria- Cabinet has expressed its full support to the Minister of Defence and Military Veterans following reports that the Minister had refused to table an interim report to the Portfolio Committee on Defence.
In a statement, government spokesperson, Themba Maseko, said Minister Lindiwe Sisulu was not obliged to table the Defence Force Service Commission Interim Report to the Committee as it had to be seen by Cabinet first.
"Firstly, she has not received the final report and secondly, in terms of the existing Cabinet convention, she is obliged to table the report to Cabinet first for consideration, before tabling it to Parliament.
"The Cabinet co-responsibility convention requires Members of the Executive to process reports and policy documents (including Bills) through Cabinet prior to publishing and or tabling them in Parliament," said Maseko.
He said the convention sought to ensure that Members of the Executive remain collectively and individually accountable for decisions taken by Cabinet.
He added that the Minister was expected to table the final report to Cabinet as soon as she receives it, adding that the report will then be tabled in Parliament after due consideration by Cabinet.
The Department of Defence recently stated that Sisulu never denied Parliament the report, but indicated that in line with Cabinet rules, any commission appointed by Cabinet must report back to Cabinet before it submits a report to Parliament or any other body.
"It is a process the Portfolio Committee has accepted and has been used before in relation to the report of the task team on military veterans," it said.
