There has never been overwhelming evidence that the multibillion rand arms procurement package was fatally and comprehensively flawed by largescale corruption in government. So the cabinet is entitled to draw some consolation at the report by the three investigating agencies, published yesterday, which found that that is indeed the case.

But it is not entitled to the overly cocky claims of wholesale vindication. There is a way to go yet in the investigation, and government will have to hope that no new scandals emerge from the woodwork. It will also have to act very determinedly where breaches have been identified.

In one respect it appears to be doing so. As the cabinet has already acknowledged, and its members repeated yesterday, there is a dire need to ensure that conflicts of interest in state procurement processes cannot be permitted in future.

This is so whether it applies to participating ministers who, soon afterwards, take up lucrative positions with successful bidders, or state officials who have a family or other personal interest in the outcome of the tender. Legislation is expected soon. Still, unfortunately, this procurement exercise will forever be enveloped by suspicions of cronyism and corruption.

Only three individuals have so far been fingered. MP Tony Yengeni is already facing corruption charges, and military industrialist Michael Woerfel is charged as the corrupter. That case must be allowed to take its course.

The third named individual is defence procurement chief Chippy Shaik, whose family has extensive commercial interests in subcontractors that have benefited from the package.

The first danger signal arose yesterday, when Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota displayed an odd reluctance to concede that any internal disciplinary action should be contemplated against Shaik. It may be that is because Lekota is aware that Shaik may be a target for other action soon. If so, good.

Thought also needs to be given to the question of whether the contracts that went to Shaik family businesses might not be reconsidered. They may have been awarded irregularly.

Hopefully, another lesson learned is the damage done to the investigation and the investigators' own credibility by the ruling party's decision not to permit the participation of the special investigation unit as was originally recommended, and the crushing of any independent action on the part of ANC members of the public accounts committee.

Government has not acquitted itself well in this affair, and from the start its inexperience has shown. It has been sold absurdly sophisticated weapons in return for some genuinely comical offsets. Its defence of the deal and the politics and people involved has been badly mismanaged.

And even had the entire process been clean, that does not address the affordability questions that call ever more loudly as the rand falls.

With acknowledgement to Business Day.