Political parties slam Motshekga over Iran's hand in war games off Simon’s Town coast

Political parties are turning up the heat on Defence Minister Angie Motshekga over Iran’s participation in war games off the Simon’s Town coast last week.

While the Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling for a parliamentary debate on the matter, ActionSA said Parliament must conduct its own probe.

Motshekga, on Friday, ordered a board of inquiry into the events, but political parties have dismissed this move as lacking in objectivity and transparency.

DA member of Parliament (MP) Chris Hattingh said what originally appeared to be confusion over whether or not Iran was participating in the naval exercises or had adopted observer status now appears to him as an act of defiance within the defence force.

At the centre of the storm is the Navy Chief, Vice Admiral Monde Lobese, whom political parties believe ignored President Cyril Ramaphosa’s instruction, conveyed by Minister Angie Motshekga, for Iran to be excluded from the drills.

"South Africa’s allies, including Iran, are increasingly impacting on the country’s geo-political relationships with Iran, now having joined the BRICS [Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa] bloc - and currently in the grip of civil unrest."

Hattingh said Parliament has a right to ask whether civilian authority was ignored.

"Shifting stories and senior officers openly praising Iran’s participation. That is not confusion, that’s insubordination. "

Meanwhile, ActionSA’s Lerato Ngobeni agrees that last week’s events appear to point to a coordinated and deliberate defiance to comply with a direct command.

Her party has now written to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence requesting an urgent probe.

Ngobeni has rejected the board of inquiry established by Minister Motshekga, saying an independent process is needed to get to the bottom of the matter.