National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka says his department has investigated many of the allegations relating to impropriety in the multibillion-rand arms deal and has found them to be "absolutely rubbish". This has wasted "a lot of money and time".

Briefing Parliament's justice committees on his budget vote on Monday, he said the investigation into the arms deal had been very difficult, with investigators having to check and recheck the books of a number of organisations.

Some of the allegations had been found to be "absolutely rubbish" with "absolutely no basis".

Referring to questions raised about the investigators, he said more than 30 investigators from three different agencies were involved in the probe. This would mean that investigators from his department would check on people from the
 auditor-general's office and vice versa.

Ngcuka dismissed concerns that disclosures at the public hearings on alleged irregularities in the arms acquisition deal which started in Pretoria on Monday could lead to those under suspicion covering their tracks.

The public hearings had no hidden agenda and had been established in a transparent manner to engender confidence among the public in the investigation.

Presenting its successes, Ngcuka said his department had brought 95 cases of urban terror before the courts, while 40 people connected with terror attacks in the Western Cape were in custody or had been denied bail.

Among those in custody were People Against Gangsterism and Drugs national co-ordinator Abdus-Salaam Ebrahim and chief of security Salie Abader.

More than 20 convictions had been obtained in finalised cases, with the charges ranging from murder, escaping from prison and possession of explosives such as pipe bombs, while sentences varied between 18 months and 32 years' effective imprisonment.

Ngcuka said his department's success in quelling political violence in KwaZulu Natal had been "phenomenal", while in Gauteng, particularly Johannesburg, car hijacking and drug trafficking were being tackled effectively.

Sapa reports that the National Prosecuting Authority had made good progress last year in improving its court performance and reducing the backlog of cases in the country.

It had almost reached its goal, established in 1999, of having courts sit for a minimum of four hours a day - "far longer" than previously.

About 90 courts throughout the country were now working on Saturdays as well.

Ngcuka also revealed there had been a "dramatic increase" in the conviction rate last year, to an average of 82% in district courts and 65% in regional courts. The high court had recorded a conviction rate of 77%, finalising 1 392 cases.

With acknowledgements to Andre Koopman and The Star