Opposition parties waded into the government on Tuesday on the controversial R53-billion arms deal, describing the report on the investigation into the deal and the government's role in it as a "disgrace" and a national "shame".

The National Assembly was debating the report of the Joint Investigating Team - comprising the Public Protector, the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the Auditor General - which had investigated allegations of wrongdoing and corruption in the arms acquisition package.

Parliament's watchdog public accounts committee had initially pushed vigorously for an in-depth investigation into the deal, but ANC members on the committee softened their stance, apparently after pressure from the executive.

Casualties in the battle, which highlighted parliamentary oversight were, Andrew Feinstein, a respected ANC workhorse who had led the ANC team on the public accounts committee, who resigned; and Gavin Woods of the IFP, former chair of the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) who also resigned citing interference from the executive.

Woods said on Tuesday that Parliament had purposely failed to monitor one of the biggest deals ever contracted by the government.

"The seriousness of this failure rivals even the shameful extremes of the arms deal itself."

Raenette Taljaard of the DA said the arms deal had compromised government's integrity, while dealings and transactions around the deal had been neither transparent nor accountable.

With acknowledgements to Andre Koopman and The Mercury.