Armed with the reply to a Parliamentary question, a Democratic Alliance (DA) National Assembly (NA) representative is demanding the Defence and Military Veterans Minister “submit herself” to the Exercise Will for Peace Presidential panel inquiry.
Chris Hattingh has it in a statement the reply by International Relations and Co-operation Minister Ronald Lamola to a question posed by Ryan Smith, DA watchdog for Lamola’s portfolio, confirms Ramaphosa issued the instruction for Iran to withdraw from the January naval exercise.
On 26 February Smith was informed in writing “the withdrawal of naval vessels belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran from the waters of the Republic as part of Exercise Will for Peace was an instruction from the President following discussions with the ministers of Defence [and Military Veterans] and DIRCO [Department of International Relations and Co-operation]. An enquiry is under way to ascertain why the instruction from the President was not implemented.”
Hattingh maintains the Lamola reply confirms “a direct instruction” was “ignored”. This, in turn he says “exposes a deeply troubling reality – a direct instruction from the Commander-in-Chief of the SA National Defence Force [SANDF] was apparently not executed”.
His statement reads in part: “The Minister of Defence was consulted before the President issued this instruction. Yet, when questioned repeatedly in Parliament, she refused to confirm whether the President had ordered the withdrawal of the Iranian vessels”.
Also worrying to Hattingh is the timeline around what is now officially a Presidential panel after starting as a Department of Defence (DoD) Board of Inquiry (BoI). This, according to him, raises serious concerns.
“On 16 January 2026, the Minister of Defence announced that she had ordered a Board of Inquiry within the Department of Defence, claiming it would report within seven days. However, this very board of inquiry was moved from the Department of Defence to the Presidency, further highlighting the President’s loss of trust in his own Minister of Defence.”
The change in status was made public by a 26 February Presidency statement with the same panel – judges Bernard Ngoepe (chair), Kathy Satchwell, Mashangu Leeuw and retired SA Navy (SAN) JG admiral Patrick Duze – as named by the DoD for its BoI. The change was seen as being necessary because BoIs, as per the Defence Act, have to be staffed by serving SANDF officers, not necessarily the case with Presidential panels.
South Africa’s first Presidential panel defence-wise was named by Ramaphosa to investigate aspects of the December 2022 docking and unloading of a Russian cargo ship – the Lady R – in the Simon’s Town naval harbour. That panel found no evidence to support claims the Russian cargo vessel, apparently sanctioned, was carrying weapons from South Africa.
The current panel has a month to complete its investigation and report but there is, as yet, no indication of when it will or has started work and where it is located. DefenceWeb has twice requested this information from The Presidency, but has yet to receive a response.
Hattingh’s “demand” for Motshekga to “submit herself” to the panel is, he says, in line with South Africans deserving clarity on a serious breakdown in the chain of command in the national defence force.
“The integrity of the country’s defence structures depends on accountability, transparency and the assurance that lawful instructions from the President are respected and executed. Until these questions are answered, confidence in the leadership of the Department of Defence will remain severely undermined,” the statement has him saying.
