The government will co-operate fully with any investigations into the Industrial Defence Procurement Package (IDP), which has been plagued by allegations of corruption, government spokesman Joel Netshitenzhe said after Cabinet's fortnightly meeting in Pretoria on Wednesday.

"Government will co-operate with any investigations that may be set up on this matter," Netshitenzhe said. He said that Cabinet wishes to clarify that the package as a whole included comprehensive agreements with financial institutions pertaining to, among other things, appropriate hedge mechanisms to prevent escalation of prices in the instance of unforeseen inflation and exchange rate movements.

Cabinet also wants to ensure that the contracts are corruption-free. This follows Auditor-General Shauket Fakie's special report to parliament, released last month, which found that generally accepted procurement practices were not followed. Fakie recommended a special forensic audit into the deal's subcontracts, some of which have been the subject of corruption claims.

The Heath Investigative Unit, Investigating Directorate: Serious Economic Offences, and Public Protector Selby Baqwa have also launched investigations into the deal. Parliament's watchdog public accounts committee heard earlier this month that the deal - which was originally billed at R30.3 billion - was expected to cost the country R43.8 billion, if inflation and exchange rate costs were included.

The public accounts committee is expected to release its own report into the deal next week. However, Cabinet was still confident that South Africa's controversial R30 billion arms deal would not further burden taxpayers with additional costs, Netshitenzhe said.

"Government has put in place 'appropriate' mechanisms to prevent an escalation of costs associated with the controversial R30 billion arms deal," he said. The IDP had involved comprehensive agreements with financial institutions to prevent additional costs.

"On reviewing the Medium-term Budget Policy Framework, which the minister of finance will present to parliament on October 30, the meeting further noted that there were no budget risks arising from the IDP process."  Cabinet was also satisfied with the manner in which negotiations on the deal were conducted, Netshitenzhe said. "As far as the industrial procurement package is concerned, yes, Cabinet is satisfied that the process was undertaken with integrity and with the expertise, particularly, of members of our national defence force," he said.

Cabinet agreed that the relevant ministers would avail themselves to the standing committee on public accounts to clarify the many broader strategic issues.

With acknowledgement to Woza.