As pressure from his own party mounted on President Thabo Mbeki over his
involvement in the multibillion-rand arms deal, his office and prosecutors were
tight-lipped about what the calls for him to account could mean for the
president.
While Mbeki spokesman Mukoni Ratshitanga would not comment, the National
Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said Mbeki was not facing an investigation.
"To the extent that we are aware, no one has placed information which alleges
any wrongdoing on the part of any individual, excluding those who have already
received attention," NPA spokesman Tladi Tladi said yesterday.
He pointed to the controversial findings of the
2001 multi-agency investigation into the arms deal, which found no flaws in the
government's primary contracts.
But with senior African National Congress (ANC) figures pointing fingers at
Mbeki at the party's national executive committee (NEC) meeting in Gauteng at
the weekend, calls for a probe into the president's role in the arms deal are
likely to intensify. With ANC president Jacob Zuma facing charges of corruption
and another ANC NEC member, Tony Yengeni, convicted of defrauding Parliament
over the arms deal, it remains unclear why Mbeki,
who was officially tasked with the entire arms procurement, has not been
investigated.
The call for Mbeki to account for his role in the arms deal was widely supported
at the NEC meeting at the weekend.
"Did he take a bribe from the Germans? Thabo needs to take the ANC into his
confidence," an NEC member said.
Mbeki was not present during the discussion. Although entitled to attend NEC
meetings as an ex-officio member, most discussions have happened in his absence
since he was ousted as president of the party and replaced by Zuma.
The Young Communist League (YCL) called yesterday for Mbeki to be taken to task.
"The NPA must stop cherry-picking cases of corruption. There have been lots of
media reports which suggest that President Thabo Mbeki must be investigated,"
YCL secretary-general Bhuti Manamela said.
However, opposition political parties have labelled the
calls for Mbeki to come clean as a ruse.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said yesterday it was clear that the matter was
being used to settle scores in the ANC. The DA repeated its call for Mbeki to
appoint an independent judicial commission of inquiry to resolve the
allegations.
The Independent Democrats said the ANC's call on Mbeki "stinks of hypocrisy",
and that the party as a whole should come clean on the
money it received as a result of the arms deal.
The discussion at the ANC's NEC meeting was apparently sparked by a report in
Friday's Mail & Guardian, which alleged that Mbeki, some government officials
and the ANC had benefited financially from the arms deal.
The newspaper revealed that arms giant ThyssenKrupp desperately lobbied the
government in particular Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla to head off a
German investigation into SA's arms deal scandal.
The paper said a lawyer for a local ThyssenKrupp representative, Sven Moeller,
wrote repeatedly to Mabandla and justice director-general Menzi Simelane to try
to prevent the seizure of documents and the interrogation of witnesses in SA.
The German prosecuting authorities are probing claims that a company bribed
South African officials and politicians to land a contract for warships for the
navy, and have formally asked South African authorities for help.
It remains unclear what progress the ANC has made with its own probe on the arms
deal.
In January, the newly elected NEC instituted a probe into the deal, saying it
wanted a "detailed, factual report" so that it could "provide leadership".
That investigation is running concurrently with ANC treasurer-general Mathews
Phosa's internal audit into the party's investments.
With acknowledgements to Hajra Omarjee, Karima Brown
and Business
Day.
And the heat gets hot.