Public Protector Selby Baqwa and national Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka lashed out angrily on Thursday at opposition charges of an arms deal "whitewash".

Baqwa said he would never allow himself to be part of a cover-up. The accusation was "not worth the paper it is written on".

After an exhaustive investigation and a 400-page report, claims that all three investigative agencies had been involved in a cover-up were "cheap politicking".

The attorney-General had stated that investigators from the three agencies had collectively examined more than 700 000 pages of evidence, he said.

There were checks and balances built into the system to ensure a proper outcome to the probe, Baqwa added.

Meanwhile, senior cabinet ministers have expressed relief about being vindicated by the investigation and have vowed to get to the bottom of the source of allegations of massive corruption.

The investigating team said that steps would be taken within 24 hours of Thursday's tabling of their report in parliament against those suspected of criminal wrongdoing.

The ministers indicated that many of the allegations of a cover-up came from "pawns of those that were losers in the bidding".

They lashed out in particular at former judge Willem Heath and Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota told a news conference after the report was tabled: "In the light of the damage to our country, caused by unfounded allegations of massive corruption on the part of government and reputable international companies, government will institute its own investigations to ascertain the source of these allegations and the purpose they sought to achieve."

While acknowledging that the report pointed to certain weaknesses in procurement processes, the cabinet vowed to "take all necessary steps to implement their recommendations", he said.

The four key ministers involved in the procurement process, Lekota, Justice Minister Penuell Maduna, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel and Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin, repeated that no part of the arms deal would be cancelled.

Lekota said the decision to acquire the package had the support of nearly all parties in parliament.

The ministers based their vindication on what they called the central thrust of the report, that "no evidence was found of any improper or unlawful conduct by the government".

"The irregularities and improprieties point to the conduct of certain officials of the government departments involved and cannot be ascribed to the president or the ministers involved in their capacity as members of the ministers' committee or the cabinet. There are therefore no grounds to suggest that the government's contracting position is flawed," the report said.

Maduna attacked former judge Heath, who was head of the Special Investigative Unit.

"He claimed he would make revelations but never had such information."

On De Lille's claims that she had evidence of widespread corruption, Maduna said that when Western Cape public prosecutor Frank Khan had interviewed her, he had found no substance in the allegations.

With acknowledgement to Andre Koopman, Christelle Terreblanche, The Mercury and Independent Online.