Ruling party members want a week to consider his request

CAPE TOWN Attempts by the chairman of the parliamentary committee on public accounts, Gavin Woods, to gain access to confidential documents on the arms deal from the defence department came up against African National Congress (ANC) reluctance yesterday.

At issue is the future role of the committee in the arms probe and whether it will conduct an investigation independently of that of the auditor-general, national directorate of public prosecutions and the public protector.

The role of the committee in the arms probe will be highlighted now that it has adopted the ANC's version of a report on developments since September, when the committee passed a resolution calling for an investigation into the R43bn arms deal. All minority parties opposed the report, which failed to address executive attacks on the committee's work.

The ANC caucus decided last week that it would not accept minority reports attached to committee reports, but the report adopted yesterday noted that this was done without consensus. The ANC rejected all amendments suggested by the Democratic Alliance (DA).

Woods sought a committee mandate to request the documents relating to the evaluation of the preferred bidders for the five prime contracts by the defence evaluation committee.

He said it was important for the committee to understand the mechanics of the selection process, not least so it could prepare itself to inspect the findings of the investigative team.

The auditor-general's report on the R43bn arms package pinpointed concern about the process of approving some of the prime projects.

Woods, backed by the DA, said the committee had a constitutional obligation to conduct its own investigation. He noted that National Assembly speaker Frene Ginwala had enjoined it to do so, and hoped that directions for this investigation would emerge from perusal of evaluation documents.

But ANC committee members asked for a week to consider the matter and wanted to know why these documents were being called for. They said the request should have been tabled in a proper manner. Bruce Kannemeyer asked whether this meant the committee was to conduct its own independent and parallel investigation.

ANC member Neo Masithela insisted that the ANC was not contesting the right of committee members to gain access to documents, but first it had to identify what issues required follow-up.

Woods said he wanted the documents for exploratory purposes, and described the ANC's hesitance as illogical.

"Certain avenues for investigation could arise from an exploration of the documents," Woods said. "In contemplating the bigger picture of the arms deal, I will be requesting a mandate for other information in future."

DA spokesman on public accounts Raenette Taljaard said he was "deeply disappointed the ANC used its parliamentary majority to crush minority opinions. By adopting a meek and apologetic report on the actions of the executive, ANC members on the committee have cow-towed to the interests of their party bosses and failed to put the interests of Parliament and the people first."

With acknowledgment to Linda Ensor and Business Day.