Opposition parties have come out against any suggestion of amnesty for arms
deal offenders linked to SA's controversial multibillion-rand weapons deal.
The idea was mooted by arms deal critic and former African National Congress
(ANC) MP Andrew Feinstein this month. He said that instead of facing criminal
charges, offenders should "return ill-gotten gains"
and be disqualified from public office.
The suggestion came amid growing pressure from inside the ANC for President
Thabo Mbeki to come clean about his involvement in the arms deal. Though Mbeki
was officially tasked with overseeing the procurement process when he was deputy
president, he has never been investigated. Instead,
newly elected ANC president Jacob Zuma is facing charges of corruption over the
deal after the conviction of his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said yesterday that the notion of amnesty would
have serious consequences.
"We believe that such an amnesty for a few of the ANC elite would be tantamount
to condoning theft from the South African public,
and would set an appalling precedent, allowing
unscrupulous politicians to proclaim amnesty for themselves in the future before
leaving office," said the DA's arms deals spokesman, Eddie Trent.
The Independent Democrats (ID) said it would consider "private prosecution" if
the amnesty went ahead." They are crooks, not freedom
fighters," said ID leader Patricia de Lille.
The Freedom Front Plus said amnesty for arms deal offenders would be
unfair to ANC national executive committee member
Toni Yengeni and Shaik, who have been convicted for offences related to the
deal.
With acknowledgements to Hajra Omarjee
and Business
Day.
Any amnesty implies full disclosure - a rather juicy
possibility.