Publication: Cape Times Issued: Date: 2006-07-10 Reporter: Sapa Reporter: Reporter:

Arms Package Dealings Were by the Book - Mbeki

 

Publication 

Cape Times
Date

2006-07-10

Reporter
Sapa

Web Link

www.capetimes.co.za

 

Johannesburg : The government conducted its multibillion-rand arms deal according to the book *1, President Thabo Mbeki has told SABC radio news.

The government was clear of any wrongdoing, he said, referring to media reports that Germany was investigating allegations of possible bribery and corruption in the awarding of a contract for warships to a German consortium.

Mbeki said he welcomed any investigation into the deal, but believed it would not reach a conclusion different from that of Auditor-General Shauket Fakie, whose findings had exonerated the government of wrongdoing.

A Sunday newspaper has quoted the Scorpions as saying they have found no evidence implicating Mbeki in alleged irregularities.

They did, however, have information linking him to a French defence company that was part of a consortium awarded the contract for a combat suite for the navy's new corvettes, the newspaper said.

Quoting the Scorpions, it said Mbeki had met executives of Thomson-CSF, now called Thales International, in Paris in 1998 while he was deputy president and Thint, a South African subsidiary of the company, was bidding for a stake in the deal.

The meetings related to the awarding of the combat suite contract and the defence company's black empowerment structure, the report said.

Thint and Jacob Zuma, who succeeded Mbeki as deputy president, are facing corruption charges in connection with the arms deal.

The newspaper noted that at the time of his meeting with Thales executives, Mbeki chaired a ministerial subcommittee responsible for approving the arms package.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Makhosini Nkosi told the newspaper that no evidence had been found of impropriety by Mbeki. He had not been the subject of an investigation as this had not been warranted, he said.

The report also noted that when questions were raised last year about the meeting with Thales executives, Mbeki had said he could not recall whether he had met them as he'd had many meetings overseas *2.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and Cape Times.


*1       Not true at all. There was a book, indeed more than one book defining major acquisition processes. These were certain DoD and Armscor regulations. These were not adhered to. Indeed the JIT investigation showed that "The Book" was written as they went along.

And certainly there's no place in the book for secret meetings between the Chairman of MINCOM with a potential sub-contractor during the negotiation phase.


*2      He'd also had many meetings both locally and overseas with Thomson-CSF.