Publication	The Mercury
Date	2007-05-28
Reporter	Sue Segar
Web Link	www.witness.co.za

The Cape Town businessman who sued the government for about R150 million in damages relating to his losing a bid to supply information management systems for the navy’s Corvettes, has vowed to continue to co-operate with foreign and local authorities probing charges of corruption around the arms deal.

Richard Young, the managing director of CCII Systems, said yesterday he is determined to see justice done, not only in his own areas of interest, but in the overall arms deal matter.

This follows an announcement this weekend that the state has agreed on a R15 million pay-out to Young, ending years of complex defended litigation.

In a joint statement on Saturday, the Defence Ministry and CCII Systems, said the legal actions brought by Young against the minister of Defence, Armscor and others relating to the Strategic Arms Procurement process have now been resolved.

Defamation claims withdrawn

The statement said: “An agreement concluded by the parties provides for the irrevocable withdrawal of CCII’s claims for damages which, with interest, amounted to nearly R300 million”.

“Two claims for defamation brought by Dr Young have also been withdrawn. Two further court actions relating to the provision of information have similarly been resolved.

“CCII and Young will receive a contribution between them in the amount of R15 million from the state without admission of liability.”

The statement said the costs incurred and the need for more time and expert witnesses influenced the decision to settle.

“This brings to an end years of complex defended litigation on terms amicably agreed upon. The parties … hope that they will continue to enjoy cordial relations.”

Young went to court after he lost a multi-million-rand bid to supply the information management system for the Navy’s new Corvettes, after being led to believe that the contract was his.

He applied to gain access to documents relating to the arms deal and to the work done by the joint investigating team appointed by Parliament to probe the arms procurement process.

Young believed that his bid failed because of serious irregularities in the procurement process, so he sued the government, Armscor and the French-owned company that won the contract, African Defence Systems, for R150 million in damages.

In an interview with The Witness, Young said the the (sic) settlement is “a hell of a lot less than what I wanted or I think I deserved”.


‘It’s going on 10 years, I need to move on’

“But I have been fighting since 1998. It is going on 10 years and my life needs to move on. I have given the best part of my life to fight this.

“At times, it has been so all-consuming that it was taking about 60 hours out of my working week. The only way I could have won was to effectively approach the matter from every different angle.

“I was fighting an endless battle of delays and extended expenses. I was putting my life on hold. I now want to get on with a personal life, and to apply myself properly to a family life,” Young said.

He said his legal costs ­ which will come out of the R15 million payout ­ amount to R8 million.

“Originally, I was told that I needed about R3 million. Towards the end of last year, my lawyers were telling me we would need to set aside at least R7 million, because the case was so big and would include so many expert witnesses.”

Young said he could have ended up with a seven-year litigation process had he not agreed to the settlement.


‘Still in the thick of things’

However, he said he is “still in the thick of things because everyone approaches me for assistance with facts and opinions”.

“I am still keen to see justice properly done overall and in the public interest *1. The joint investigation was a terribly flawed thing ­ but it was planned like that and we ended up with a wishy-washy, weak report. Now it is up to the foreign authorities ­ the British, the Swedes, the Germans and the Swiss.

“They are following this up from their angles and have a lot of questions about a lot of entities, including [the former head of arms procurement] Chippy Shaik.”

Asked to comment on reports that Chippy Shaik is to relocate to Australia, following an exposé of his allegedly plagiarised fake doctorate and his other problems, Young said: “Any problems that the Shaik family, including Chippy, are feeling at the moment, have been brought on by themselves.”

And asked about his next big challenge, Young said: “To catch a 20 kg kabeljou *1 from my jetty”.

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*        Not a story title that I would have chosen, but this is the choice of neither the interviewee nor the journalist, but the sub-editors.


*1      This is the bottom line, any efforts will not be in my private interest, but in the public interest.*3


*2      Okay, 10 kg will do fine.


Although, this sounds a bit like George W. Bush :

"So what is the best moment of your tenure in office?"

"Catching a seven-pound perch in a lake in Texas"

My response is in the future tense.

And I'm not the presidential leader of 275 million people with my index finger on the launch button of a few hundred multiple re-entry vehicles and other nasties.


*3      With a reservation of rights, of course.

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