Defence acquisitions chief Chippy Shaikh's denials of wrongdoing were supported at the public hearings into the arms deal on Thursday 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 (about R2,4-billion).

Both Lieutenant-General Willem Hechter and Vice-Admiral Robert Simpson-Anderson rallied to Shaikh's defence, 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 hearing, being conducted by Public Protector Selby Baqwa in Pretoria.

Simpson-Anderson pointed out that ADS had lost other contracts

In a letter he wrote to the Secretary of Defence and read out at the hearings, Simpson-Anderson said Shaikh recused himself from any decision-making relating to the corvette and submarine combat suites on the grounds that a perception of bias might exist.

This process was followed right until final contract signing.

"No persons, including Mr Shaikh, altered any evaluation results which were duly forwarded to higher authority."

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

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.

Quizzed extensively on the terms of the deal under cross-examination, Naidoo said the negotiating team had managed to coerce the preferred bidders to "significantly" increase their counter-trade offers, and had also managed to secure bank guarantees for this, far exceeding international norms.

Naidoo conceded that industrial participation agreements were not always adhered to and had mixed success around the world, but said the companies South Africa had concluded deals with were all "highly visible" and internationally renowned, and were unlikely to backtrack.

With acknowledgements to The Star.