Lawyers acting for the Pan Africanist Congress's member of parliament, Patricia de Lille, have given President Thabo Mbeki until Friday to provide them with all the information he used to decide to exclude Judge Willem Heath from the R43-billion arms probe. 

In a second letter to Mbeki sent on Thursday, the lawyers indicated if the president failed to do so, they would be forced to go to court to compel him to hand over the information. They made the original request for information in a letter on Friday last week. 

The lawyers want the information to assess whether Mbeki applied his mind to the decision to exclude Heath from the probe. 

'President should make the request to De Lille personally in writing' 

If Mbeki is found not to have done so, De Lille will seek a judicial review of the decision, her lawyer Cecil Burgess said last week. De Lille is relying on sections 32 and 33 of the Constitution which relates to access to information and just administrative actions. 

The president's office was not immediately available for comment. 

Meanwhile, Mbeki himself wants information relating to the arms deal and has asked the Heath Unit to provide him with all the information it has in its possession. 

However, in terms of the law the Heath Unit first needs permission from those who gave it the information, according to the Heath Unit's spokesperson, Naomi Goodley. 

Penuell Maduna, the minister of justice, has also indicated that if the information was not forthcoming, then Judge Willem Heath would not be above Section 205 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which has in the past been used against journalists to force them to disclose the sources of their information. 

De Lille told Sapa on Thursday she was among those approached by the Heath Unit for permission to hand over certain documents it received through her office. 

However, on advice from her lawyers she was told to advise Heath that the president should make the request to her personally in writing. 

The president should also furnish reasons why he wanted the information, especially as Mbeki had already made his decision to exclude Heath from the probe. 

De Lille said she had yet to receive a request from the president. 

With acknowledgement to Sapa and Independent Online.