The official report into the Lady R debacle was 'truthful' and showed no laws were transgressed, President Cyril Ramaphosa told the National Council of Provinces, taking the national security line on making detailed disclosures about the equipment offloaded.

'Those issues that deal with national security, I have decided to keep away from public scrutiny... It has to do with the equipment that is used by our security forces...

"I am not about to reveal the things they use to defend the people of South Africa so that they become vulnerable, and the people of South Africa become vulnerable," President Ramaphosa told legislators.

"Take it or leave it. That is the reality."

That response came alongside a reiteration of truthfulness in response to opposition questions on the sanctioned Russian Lady R debacle.

The official report found US Ambassador Reuben Brigety's claim that weapons were loaded on board was not sustained, according to the five-page executive summary that was released in early September.

The Lady R vessel docked in Simon's Town in December 2022 to offload equipment ordered for the military in 2018 that was delayed by Covid lockdowns and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Ramaphosa told the NCOP legislators that National Conventional Arms Control Committee legislation and national security allowed for details of the intended use of the equipment not to be disclosed, to protect military and commercial secrets.

Of course, the law doesn't expressly say it cannot...