Defence inquiry team will meet to decide on sentencing this week

Suspended arms acquisitions chief Shamin "Chippy" Shaik has promised to challenge the findings of a defence department inquiry that found him guilty of contravening the Defence Act.

Shaik said yesterday he would appeal against any adverse findings in the inquiry given to the defence secretariat and Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota last Friday. The inquiry found him guilty of illegally disclosing information contained in Auditor-General Shauket Fakie's draft report on the arms deal.

It is understood that the report, which criticised Shaik's conduct in the arms deal, was handed to Lekota late last year.

The report was given to Shaik for comment and he gave it to his lawyers, who contacted Fakie about matters in it that were of concern to Shaik.

He said in an interview yesterday: "I am acting on advice given me by my lawyers on how to handle documents and so on."

Shaik said last Friday's report was not the end of the matter.

Shaik said he was acting within his rights when he perused the document under contention. "In fact, the defence department appointed a team for me. The auditor-general has no objection in me seeing the document."

The departmental inquiry team first met on December 28 and then again last Saturday.

It is to meet again this week to decide on sentencing.

Shaik, who was suspended from his post last month, and forbidden to enter defence headquarters pending an investigation into his illegal disclosure of information relating to the arms deal, was named in the joint investigation report on the deal as having had a conflict of interest.

His brother, Shabhir Shaik, is a prominent member of a defence company, African Defence Systems, which benefited from the deal. He is also facing charges for being in the possession of classified documents. He will appear in the Durban Regional Court today on charges under the Protection of Information Act.

Defence ministry spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi confirmed yesterday that the disciplinary committee had found Shaik guilty of misconduct over the illegal disclosure of information.

He said the committee would reconvene this week to consider Shaik's sentence.

A Sunday newspaper reported that the Shaik family did not believe he was guilty of misconduct. They have reportedly said there would be serious consequences if the defence department took tough action against Shaik.

Mkhwanazi said the recent developments related only to the illegal disclosure of information and not to any of the other allegations relating to conflict of interest on which the joint investigation had reported. Further action on conflict of interest matters did not rest with the department of defence, he said.

Zam Titus, who was tasked with the inquiry, said yesterday he was not at liberty to discuss his findings. "But I understand that the principals I acted for want to study my judgment and then act on it."

Meanwhile, former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni is expected to appear in the Cape Town Regional Court to face charges of corruption, perjury and forgery relating to the arms deal.

Yengeni, who is out on a R10000 bail, was arrested by the Scorpions unit last year.

With acknowledgement to Bonile Naqiyaza, Wyndham Hartley and Business Day.