Cape Town - Government is expected to realign arms manufacturer Denel and put it back under the control of the Department of Defence and Military Veterans.
Delivering her Budget Vote in Parliament on Friday, Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said: "On the matter of Denel, we want to serve notice to Honourable Members that we intend to negotiate Denel back into the ambit of Defence."
She said that she had held discussions with the Minister of Public Enterprises Barbara Hogan regarding the ,atter.
"At the very least, we need to immediately embark on a strategic re-alignment of Denel. Denel is a strategic security manufacturing asset for Defence and we would like to retain it as such," said the minister
She further said that the defence industry required an exhaustive interrogation.
"Both Armscor and Denel should be part of such an enquiry, which must also extend to every sector of the industry. This should be conducted in a way that will subsequently produce effective command and control measures and effective turnaround," said Ms Sisulu.
Both Armscor and Denel have not had outstanding performances.
The Portfolio Committee on Defence submitted a report on the matter of Armscor to the minister last year with "some very strong recommendations".
"I would like to be given time to deal with the matters raised in the said report. I have had occasion to meet with the Chairperson of the Board of Armscor and we have agreed that we need to deal decisively with several outstanding matters," said Ms Sisulu.
