DEFENCE MINISTER Mosuioa Lekota has, quite predictably, been let off the hook by forensic investigators First Consulting in its “top secret” final report into the illegal sale of surplus SANDF ammunition to the United States.

Nearly two years ago, in nose69, we revealed how Lekota secretly approved a proposal, by Armscor CEO Sipho Thomo, to sell 950 million rounds of surplus 7.62mm and 5.56mm ammunition to America’s Century International Arms Corp. This was in violation of a cabinet memorandum issued in 1997, which decreed that all surplus ammunition smaller than – and including – 12.7mm must henceforth be destroyed, not sold, by the state armaments agency, with any financial loss to the state deemed acceptable.

In his 17 July 2003 letter to Minister Lekota, Thomo had pointed out that if the 950 million rounds were dismantled or destroyed, in line with cabinet policy, revenue would be R12m. Selling them would bring in R104.5m. Lekota scrawled his approval to Thomo’s proposal.

First Consulting’s forensic investigation, which began in January 2005, was commissioned by defence secretary January Maselela. The firm had been registered eight months earlier and is headed by Maselela’s good friend, former Denel auditor Tebeho Moleko.

In the report, Lekota doesn’t even get a mention! Indeed, though the thing has cost the taxpayer millions, study of its 109 pages bears out the suspicion aired in nose73 that we should expect a Maselela-orchestrated whitewash.

Its disjointed content, loony logic and conspicuous failure to name villains – apart from a few whiteys such as Fred Marais (head of the Directorate Conventional Arms Control) and Boet van Staden and Johan Olivier (from Armscor) percolate into a farcical “forensic investigation” that doesn’t shed much light on anything. Presumably that’s why every page is headed “Top Secret,” and has a distribution list of just two people: defence secretary Maselela and Military Police chief Ledwaba.

Marais, who was responsible for the issue of surplus ammunition export permits, was suspended on full pay in November 2004. He’s been in full pay limbo ever since and tells us that his disciplinary hearing is trundling on. It’s now at the “technical argument” stage and witnesses have yet to take the stand.

As for Van Staden and Olivier and their relationship with German arms company Industriepark Spreewerk Lubben, the First Consulting’s report makes the following profound finding: “Armscor personnel Boet van Staden and Johan Olivier favoured ISL over other companies” and “Much effort was placed on selling surplus SANDF ammunition to Spreewerk Lubben rather than to highest bidders”.

Van Staden wrote to the German authorities authorising the re-exporting of surplus SANDF ammunition, which led to the dispatching of 7.62mm and 5.56mm surplus rounds to “the open market”. This undermined the authority of the National Conventional Arms Control Committee and the conditions under which the contracting approval was granted.

Olivier supplied “false information” to obtain export permits. The investigators scrutinised eight 7.62mm and 51mm ammunition export permits for Spreewerk Lubben issued between 1998 and 2000. Expired marketing permits had been used, showing the end user country as Guyana. “The person liable for these criminal acts is Johan Olivier,” declares First Consulting.

First Consulting slams an arms control committee report by one Vanessa Daniell, mandated to investigate irregularities in the selling of surplus SANDF ammunition to Spreewerk. Daniell concluded that “the event was detected by Armscor and Armscor duly forced the company to comply”.

Daniell’s findings and conclusions were “baseless and uninformed,” says First Consulting. Her investigation “lacked detail and it was influenced by Boet van Staden and the person/s responsible for the irregularities.” This compliance report had a major influence on the arms control committee, to the effect that the pending investigations against Spreewerk and Armscor were stopped.

“The contrary proved however that Spreewerk and Armscor were involved in serious criminal transgressions,” say First Consulting.

Relations between First Consulting and Armscor were fractious to say the least. “For the first few weeks after the commencement of our assignment the greatest obstacle was the acquisition of documents and the (non-) cooperation of Armscor employees,” runs the report. “Since February 2005 no access could be obtained to electronic data from Armscor. Further we had difficulty interviewing Armscor officials.”

The sharing of information and cooperation between the investigation team and the SA Police Service was also “not healthy”. General Joseph Ledwaba, Chief of Military Police, was wheeled in to act as “facilitator” between the warring parties.

On a happier note, First Consulting’s final dirge does confirm that nose73 got it right when we told how a Ratel armoured infantry assault vehicle was given to the King of Jordan, complete with a top secret communications system fitted with original algorithms and hopping codes. “This is a serious breach of state security,” reports First Consulting. It adds: “Armscor did its utmost to prevent any information that might incriminate Armscor or its officials reaching First Consulting’s investigators.”

What is more, the sleuths discovered that of the first 100 Ratels subsequently supplied to Jordan, some also went out with the secret algorithms. “Any Ratel and/or vehicle that is exported must be stripped of the radio equipment, navigation equipment, signalling equipment etc,” says First Consulting. “This practice is obviously for reasons of state security as said equipment contained codes, algorithms and information that is deemed top secret.”

noseweek also got it right about “cannibalisation”. A private company, Mechanology Design Bureau, with a registered address at Zwartkop, acquired many old Ratels for re-sale and/or export, confirms First Consulting. Its investigators found that Mechanology’s personnel gained unauthorised entry into military bases to “cannibalise” non-redundant Ratels to “refurbish” the redundant Ratels they had purchased. “The SAPS investigator, Inspector Morné du Toit, obtained information that complete Ratel engines were swapped by Mechanology and Department of Defence personnel.”

First Consulting’s recommendations: The Directorate Conventional Arms Control needs to be completely overhauled.

Cabinet should establish an inspectorate independent of the Department of Defence and Armscor, to be answerable to Parliament and led by “a professional civilian, ie an accountant, a senior lawyer or a retired judge”.

An independent investigation or a commission of inquiry should examine the de facto and financial relationship between Armscor and the Defence Department.

Pretty tepid stuff. Why spend millions paying for top secret reports of this ilk, secretary Maselela, when you could have read it ages ago in noseweek – for under R30?

With acknowledgement to Noseweek.