President Thabo Mbeki on Sunday spoke out strongly on South Africa’s controversial R43-billion arms acquisition programme, saying there were only allegations and no prima facie evidence of any wrongdoing in the deal. 

Speaking during a special interview broadcast live on SABC television, he also warned that the “open-ended” investigation into the allegations was creating a “negative message” among the deal’s major international contractors. 

Mbeki was facing a panel of four journalists interviewing him on his state of the nation address delivered at the opening of Parliament on Friday and was responding to a question in which he was asked why he had omitted to mention the programme in his speech. 

“Judge (Willem) Heath’s special investigator on this matter, advocate (Jan) Lubbe, has said — in writing, to the government — that he’s looked at all of the material Judge Heath has, (and) there is no prima facie case of any wrongdoing. “The Auditor-General (Shauket Fakie) has said he’s looked at everything that he’s got — there is no prima facie case of any wrong doing. “The Public Protector (Selby Baqwa) has done the same; the National Director of Public Prosecutions (Bulelani Ngcuka) has done the same; all four,” Mbeki said. What they said was that it was necessary to examine the allegations, in spite of an absence of prima facie evidence, to see whether there was any need for an investigation. 

“So we say fine, go ahead by all means. We’ve dealt with the matter of Heath ... we’ve referred to the matters decided by the Constitutional Court. I’ve explained that the law establishing the investigative unit does not allow the President to write out a proclamation under (just) any circumstances. The law prescribes what a president must do. And I’m not going to do an illegal thing, which (writing out the proclamation) would be. Because ... we’ve even asked Judge Heath, saying: ‘In order to help you, give us the information on the basis of which we should issue a proclamation.’ And he refused. 

“All of the investigative units are saying: we have no prima facie evidence of any wrong doing. But because an allegation has been made, we must probe it,” he said. Asked about negative perceptions of South Africa “that existed in certain quarters”, Mbeki said the International Investment Council had asked that this be discussed at their next meeting, later in February. 

“They said to us ... that what is problematic about South Africa’s image in the rest of the world is what South Africans are saying about the country. “They say: ‘It’s you who carry the negative messages to the rest of the world, we hear them from you’.” 

Mbeki said he had spoken to one of the major defence acquisition contractors, who had referred to the fact that the banks had come in and given very good credit terms to finance the deal. 

“They would not have done so if they had a negative view of the government or of the main contractors. “The banks showed confidence. What is arising, (the contractors) say, is how people are becoming uncertain about what is going to happen because you’ve now got an open-ended investigation’. “The thing is hanging in the air, and people abroad are starting to say: ‘Is this thing on or not’, ‘Is there any way this can be speeded up’.” 

The negative messages getting out to them comes from us, Mbeki said. 

With acknowledgement to Sapa and Sunday Times.