Criticism of the three agencies which had investigated the multi-billion rand arms deal was a serious indictment on the Constitution, Justice Minister Penuell Maduna has said.

In a statement, Maduna said the criticism of the findings of the Public Protector, National Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the Auditor-General also "smacks of racism".

"While the ministry respects the constitutional rights of people to criticise and to interrogate the report, it however views these criticisms as a serious indictment to the Constitution, which provides for the existence of these bodies.

"Indeed it is mind-boggling to see certain members of Parliament, people who are supposed to set a good example to their members, displaying an attitude of disrespect or lack of confidence towards these statutory bodies," Maduna said.

Several political parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA), United Democratic Movement (UDM) and Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), questioned the findings of the report, with some MPs describing the report as a "white-wash" or a "cover-up".

The 380-page report — unveiled in Parliament last week — found no "improper or unlawful conduct" by the government, and no grounds to suggest its contracting position was flawed.

Why did it take so long to suspend Chippy

Meanwhile, political parties yesterday welcomed reports that Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota had suspended head of acquisitions Shamin "Chippy" Shaik from his post, but some questioned why it had taken so long.

Parliament's public accounts committee (Scopa) chairperson Dr Gavin Woods said Shaik should have been suspended from the beginning of the investigation into the multi-billion rand arms deal.

"I agree with the minister's actions... but one might ask why Mr Shaik wasn't suspended from the time the investigation began seeing that he was a critical figure in the investigation," he said.

Lekota says suspension unrelated to arms report

Lekota said in Pretoria that the suspension came after he had become aware of allegations that Shaik had disclosed classified information without authorisation in violation of the law.

The information — allegedly improperly disclosed to members of the public by Shaik — did not relate to the three-agency probe into South Africa's multi-billion rand arms deal.

It was also unrelated to charges against Shaik's brother, Shabir, who appeared in court on Friday after classified documents including Cabinet minutes were allegedly found in his possession, Lekota said.

Lekota said the alleged transgression was committed between October 1 and November 1 this year.

DA public accounts spokesperson Raenette Taljaard said it seemed strange that Shaik had been suspended on the basis of recent transgressions on which no detail had been made available by Lekota.

"In the absence of further detail from the Minister of Defence, the impression is created that Mr Shaik is being removed from the public eye... until such time as the furore around the investigation dies down," she said.

Gerhard Koornhof of the UDM said the suspension was "after the fact" and raised serious questions about what information Shaik shared with Cabinet ministers.