I'd hoped that by now the brouhaha surrounding corruption allegations in our multi-billion rand arms deal would have been over. But it goes on. I'd like to ask: Why this fanfare?

I'm opposed to corruption and nepotism. But the fact in this arms deal which everybody misses is that this country has taken democracy too far. Where in the world have you heard people discussing such a sensitive issue in such a reckless manner? Why in the first place did we allow this matter to be made public?

We need arms in this country as much as we need houses, health facilities and schools. We live in an unpredictable world. So these arms are necessary.

And it's crazy that whites, who never raised a finger when the apartheid regime was building nuclear weapons, are now foolishly disguising themselves as custodians of moral values. This is hypocritical at best. I hear many of them saying South African is under no threat. This is naive. Should we be attacked first before realising we need arms to defend ourselves?

Let's look at what is happening in Africa if we are to start saying we are under no threat.

• Ten years ago, did the DRC people think most of their land would be invaded by their "friendly" neighbours?

• Four years ago, did we imagine Ethiopia and Eritrea would turn their liberation guns against themselves?

• Further away, did Iraq imagine people who insisted the country destroy its weapons of mass destruction would return to invade under the guise of removing weapons of mass destruction, liberating her, changing her regime or whatever Bush will tell us next?

No! History repeats itself. And that is why we need not only weapons, but weapons of mass destruction. America did it, so did Israel and other world powers. Why can't we?

With acknowledgements to Ben Halu (KTC Squatter Camp) and the Cape Times.