Johannesburg (Pana) - The Institute for Democracy in South Africa (Idasa) launched a new website on Monday dedicated to tracing the chronology of the arms deal controversy in the country.

The site is intended to provide a clear guide on the Internet through the process of the controversial R43 billion arms deal, which has threatened the credibility of the government.

Opposition parties fear that there may have been corruption in the awarding of tenders and are pressing for an independent probe, alongside that being carried out by government.

"The purpose of the site is not to interrogate the details of the procurement package itself, but rather the process by which it is under investigation," an official of the site sponsors said.

It will focus on the role of parliament in the process of adjudicating the validity or otherwise of the deal as well as the role of the legislature, through its standing committee on public accounts, in the unfolding investigation to judge the propriety of the procurement process.

The site was prepared by a team of Idasa researchers comprising Richard Calland, head of Idasa's political information and monitoring service, senior researcher Ebrahim Fakir, researcher Lynne Abrahams, and Kara van der Pol, who acts as webmaster.

The site is intended for journalists, civil society and other citizens who can use it to navigate their way through the current maze of information.

It contains direct links to original source documents from parliament and the executive, as well as correspondence between the President, the Deputy President, the speaker of parliament and the chairperson of the standing committee on public accounts. The legal opinion of parliament's legal department is also included.

The website's address is http://www.pims.org.za/armsdeal.html 

With acknowledgement to WOZA and MISAnet/Pan African News Agency