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DA: Trent - Arms Deal - President Should Jog His Memory about Thomson-CSF Meeting |
Statement by Eddie Trent MP
Democratic Alliance
Spokesperson on Public Accounts
19 December 2005
President
should start jogging his memory about Thomson-CSF meeting
President
Thabo Mbeki gave a completely unsatisfactory answer to a DA parliamentary
question about whether or not he met with representatives of a French arms
company implicated in alleged corruption related to the Arms Deal. The DA will
send a copy of the president’s reply back to his office with the request that he
jogs his mind on the details of the meeting in question.
In my
parliamentary question, I asked the President whether or not he had met with
representatives of Thomson-CSF in Paris on or about 17 December 1998. His reply
was obfuscatory at best, and stated that he, “does not recall such a meeting.
However, in the course of his duties … the President has met with and interacted
with a large number of business people and representatives of business
entities.”
It is inconceivable that any reasonable person should accept
the president answer given the facts which have thus far been made public. We
have further strong documentary evidence which we
believe underpins the fact that the president did in fact
meet *1 with Thomson-CSF to discuss a particular matter concerning the
awarding of the corvette combat suite contract and related issues such as BEE
for the deal.
At the time of the alleged meeting, Mr Mbeki was the deputy
president of South Africa and chaired the ministerial committee overseeing the
arms procurement package. It is alleged that at this meeting (in Paris) he gave
certain assurances to representatives from Thomson-CSF about the corvette combat
suite.
The company’s South African subsidiary is currently facing
prosecution along with former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
My question to
the President was based on two faxes from Thomson-CSF, both of which named him.
The first, an encrypted fax, was part of the court record of the trial of
Schabir Shaik. It referred to a person called "the Taileur"
(tailor in French) which allegedly is a reference to Shaik's brother, Chippy,
then chief of acquisitions for the Department of Defence. In one section
of the fax, the tailor was quoted as saying Mbeki was very satisfied with the
company's bid and that he had obtained Mbeki's assurance that the company would
be awarded the contract for a combat system and sensors.
The other fax
indicated that Mbeki had met Thomson-CSF executives in France in December 1998.
The fax was by Thomson-CSF senior vice-president B de Bollardiere to Mbeki and
confirmed they had met.
The President has a slew of aides and diary
secretaries in his staff and he should ask that they consult his diary for
details of this alleged meeting. A simple “I don’t recall such a meeting” is not
good enough.
For Information : Eddie
Trent 083 600 8949
Media
Liaison : Martin Slabbert 082 320
1890
With acknowledgement to Eddie Trent and the DA.