The arms deal report will be released in parliament on Thursday and will clear the government of any wrongdoing in the multi-billion rand deal, according to reliable sources.

Sources said the three agencies investigating the R66-billion arms procurement deal - the public protector, the national directorate of public prosecutions and the auditor-general - found no evidence of unlawful or improper conduct on the part of the government. Although investigators found some government officials had acted improperly, cabinet and the president had been cleared of any wrongdoing.

The chief of acquisitions in the defence department, Chippy Shaik, will be the main scapegoat, military insiders say.

The tri-agency investigative team found he failed to properly recuse himself from a section of the deal involving his brother Shabir Shaik. Also he had not obtained the necessary military security clearance.

Almost a million documents scrutinised

Opposition parties described the report on Wednesday night as a whitewash and questioned why it had been so long in coming to parliament as it was completed a few months ago.

MP Gavin Woods, who heads parliament's influential public accounts committee, has complained repeatedly about executive interference in the probe and questioned why the report was screened by the executive before coming to parliament.

Investigators say they took so long to release the report because they had to examine complicated business dealings in detail, scrutinising almost a million documents.

As the investigation stands, more than 100 summonses were issued to elicit information from witnesses and investigators have raided businesses in South Africa, France and Mauritius to obtain evidence.

The investigation will continue, the sources said.

The arms deal includes programmes to buy four corvettes and three submarines from companies in Germany, 30 light utility helicopters from Italy, up to 24 Hawk fighter trainers from Britain, up to 28 Gripen advanced light fighter aircraft from Sweden and a further 12 Hawks and 19 Gripen to be bought later.

With acknowledgement to Sapa and Independent Online.