THE National Directorate of Public Prosecutions has declined to say whether it is investigating new allegations surrounding former defence minister Joe Modise.

Weekend press reports said that Modise headed a company that had been contracted to work on a project linked to the contraversial R43bn arms deal.

Sipho Ngwema, the Public Prosecutions spokesman, said yesterday there was a "widespread investigation into these areas". He said he wouldn't say whether the specific allegations were part of the investigation or not, and added that there would not be "two simultaneous" investigations one by the official team and one by the media.

The Sunday Independent reported that Modise headed a company that was contracted to work on the Coega industrial development zone in Eastern Cape. Coega was tied to the submarine deal, which was R4,5bn of the total arms deal. The submarine contract was signed before the government completed studying its affordibility.

The Democratic Alliance yesterday called on the joint investigating team to investigate all Modise's interests in the private sector with companies linked to, or benefiting in any way from, the arms deal.

Raenette Taljaard, the DA's spokeswoman on public accounts, said the disclosures showed "yet another conflict of interest involving former minister Modise".

"His involvement in Khutele Projects in the much-troubled Coega industrial development zone comes in the wake of a week's revelations about the conduct of the former minister through the course of South Africa's strategic defence procurement and his specific role in securing the submarine contract with the German consortium in particular," Taljaard said in a statement.

She believed that "personal gain might have obscured his professional judgment".

"Coega has consistently been more of a mirage than a reality as it stumbles from crisis to crisis and continues to be plagued by unclear signals from government whether this will be a viable project or another arms deal-related march of folly.

"The fact that Minister Modise's hurried submarine contract always formed the basis of the renewed interest in the Coega project has always been its key weakness," she said.

Taljaard said the DA believed there might be other links between companies with which Modise had been linked, and the arms deal.

Attempts to contact Modise last night proved unsuccessful.  

With acknowledgement to Pat Sidley and Business Day.