Scopa MPs fuming at Denel board's no-show

Members of parliament’s public accounts watchdog (Scopa) were fuming after the board of the embattled state-owned arms manufacturer Denel snubbed a meeting to account about the company’s financial standing.

The meeting was scheduled to discuss Denel's failure to table its annual report, its liquidity crisis and to hear from the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) about its investigations into the entity, but it could not proceed as no board member attended. The board is the accounting authority for the company.

Public enterprises deputy minister Obed Bapela told MPs: “None of the board members could be found to come and attend.”

Bapela said board chair Gloria Serobe could not travel to Cape Town but her attempts to get other board members to attend failed as “unfortunately most of them were engaged and some are travelling abroad”.

While Scopa chair Mkhuleko Hlengwa confirmed receiving correspondence from Serobe last week, in which she stated she would be travelling abroad, he said she had given assurance there would be board representation at the meeting, otherwise the meeting would not have been called.

Now MPs want board members to personally foot the bill for the suspended meeting.

“This is not acceptable,” said Hlengwa.

“The accounting authority of Denel is the board, not the executives. So if their accounting authority is not here then who are we talking to? It is not acceptable. If there is no accounting authority we don’t meet. It’s standard,” he said.

Hlengwa described Denel as being “in a mess”, and a shadow of its former self.

For that reason, he said he expected the board to have found a way to be represented at the meeting.

“I can assure you had this been a meeting about a bailout, they would have been here,” he said.

Denel has received about R9bn in bailouts from the state, with zero dividends, added DA MP Benedicta van Minnen. “It is appalling that an accounting authority with a record like that has got better things to do, it is very problematic,” she said.

The meeting has been rescheduled for June 14.

On that day, the board will first have to convince Scopa why it should not be held personally liable for the costs of getting MPs, department officials and SIU officials to Tuesday's abandoned meeting.

“This not only wastes parliament’s time and parliament’s resources, the SIU is here, you (department of public enterprises) are here and therefore I would like for you to put it to the board why the costs of today’s meeting shouldn’t be borne by them personally because the meeting wouldn’t have proceeded if they hadn’t committed to attend,” said Hlengwa.

“This thing of rogue boards in SOEs is precisely why SOEs are crippled in the manner they are. To make an assurance to parliament and then walk in the opposite direction for me tells you exactly what your problem is and it must be dealt with,” he said addressing Bapela, who has been delegated responsibility for Denel.

TimesLIVE

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.