PRETORIA: Defence acquisitions chief Chippy Shaikh’s denials of wrongdoing were vindicated at the public hearings into the arms deal yesterday when the former chiefs of the navy and air force confirmed he had conducted himself with utmost integrity. 

Chief government negotiator Jayendra Naidoo also praised Shaikh for his role during the final negotiations when he said Shaikh had personally convinced the corvette consortium to raise their industrial participation by $300 million. 

“He did his job perfectly,” Naidoo said.  He said all those involved during the final negotiations had conducted themselves with professionalism and the team had always acted in the national interest. 

Both Lieutenant-General Willem Hechter and Vice-Admiral Robert Simpson-Anderson rallied to the defence of Shaikh, saying he had disclosed his potential conflict of interest from the start and had recused himself from all aspects of the process which concerned tenders by African Defence Systems (ADS) of which his brother, Shabir, is a director. 

“I have no reason to doubt the integrity of anyone involved in the navy’s projects,” Simpson-Anderson told the hearings being conducted by Public Protector Selby Baqwa in Pretoria.  He said Shaikh had informed him of his brother’s link to one of the corvette and submarine combat suites and had recused himself from all discussions concerning this. 

Although he personally had no interest in ADS, he proposed to recuse himself from any decision-making relating to the corvette and submarine combat suites on the grounds that a perception of bias might exist.  “It was agreed that whenever the combat suites were discussed I would take over the chair (of the project control board) and that Shaikh would not take part in any discussions, consultations or decisions,”  Simpson-Anderson said in a letter to the secretary of defence when allegations of misconduct were first raised in October last year.  

In the letter, read out at the hearings, Simpson-Anderson said this process was followed right until final contract signing.  He said the process followed allowed no interference in the evaluation and final recommendation of a preferred bidder. 

“No response, including Shaikh, altered any evaluation results which were duly forwarded to higher authority, including cabinet level, unaltered.” 

As further proof of impartiality, Simpson-Anderson pointed out that ADS had lost other contracts to two competing bidders. 

“It should be noted that the very same evaluation and control process whereby ADS was selected as a supplier of the corvette combat suite resulted in their losing the submarine combat suite contract to their competitor, STN Atlas, in a robust bidding and lobbying environment,” he wrote. 

Hechter, who served on the Project Control Board for the air force equipment, said he believed the process followed had maintained its integrity throughout and was not open to fraud. 

“I want to state categorically that I personally think that the process was not open to manipulation for the simple reason that it was a transparent process.  I believe in the process.  If we had not followed this process we would not be where we are (with the delivery timetable) now,” he told the hearings. 

With acknowledgment to Marco Granelli and the Cape Times.