A-G says allegations are based on insufficient evidence

Auditor-General Shauket Fakie hit back on Wednesday at claims of editing and omissions in the final report of the arms deal probe, labelling them unfounded and at times biased.

In a lengthy special report tabled in the National Assembly, he suggests some MPs have transgressed rule 66 of Parliament by casting aspersions on the integrity and dignity of the A-G's office.

They may also have been misled by inaccurate media reports.

"I am concerned that there has been an effort by certain individuals to discredit me and my office.

"Allegations are based on insufficient and inconclusive evidence during a period when sensational reporting by the media was rife.

"Based on the evidence at my disposal, I stand by the JIT [Joint Investigating Team] report tabled in Parliament in November 2001."

Fakie called on Parliament to protect the honour of the office of the A-G - an independent institution protected by the Constitution.

He was responding to claims that the final report of the probe into the controversial multi-billion-rand arms deal was "heavily edited" or "doctored" before being presented to Parliament.

The arms deal was investigated by the A-G, the Public Protector and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions, who found no evidence of unlawful conduct by the government.

Fakie has since come under fire for reported discrepancies between a draft report submitted to the executive and the final report, prompting calls from the opposition for the probe to be re-opened.

The A-G said wide-ranging accusations were made in the media, alleging the final report was sanitised, possibly at the insistence of senior members of the government.

However, detailed responses refuting these reports were not covered with the same vigour and were at times ignored.

Fakie stressed the very nature of a draft report means it can be changed, and pointed out that the final document was a consolidation of three investigations.

"The consolidation of the three reports into a single joint report dictated the elimination of duplication and technical details, specifically with a view to condensing the reports into a user-friendly format, a time-consuming effort."

It should be obvious to anyone reading the final report and draft reports carefully that there was no intention to omit information.

Regarding the allegation that all reference to gifts received by certain officials was taken out of the final document, he said it was made clear in the report that this is still under investigation.

The issue of gifts received is to be investigated by the Scorpions, the final report says.

"What it means is that I and my fellow investigators decided that, as various matters came to our attention which required further investigation, we would refer these to the Scorpions and thus not include them in the report."

Allegations were also made that references to gifts were removed to protect senior officials, despite those people being implicated in other chapters of the report.

"It is under these circumstances that I rely on Parliament to protect the integrity and honour of the office of the Auditor-General as a constitutional institution," he said.

Scopa is due to consider Fakie's response after the coming parliamentary winter recess.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and The Natal Witness.