The state has a constitutional duty to govern South Africa in an open and honest way, and to use its resources in the best interests of all of the people of the country.

The constitution guarantees freedom of expression and the media, so that the Sunday Times and others can carry out their duty to keep South Africans informed and bring wrongdoing to light. This allows the public to hold their government to account in the courts and at election time.

The government of President Thabo Mbeki may be willing to fail in its duty of good governance by covering up corruption in the arms deal. However, we are not willing to fail in our duty to keep South Africans informed, no matter the veiled threats from an increasingly desperate government and ruling party.

Last week we reported substantive allegations that President Thabo Mbeki received R30-million from a German arms company, and that he gave R28-million to the ANC and R2-million to its president, Jacob Zuma.

If Mbeki has a clear conscience about the deal ­ as he insists he does ­ then he will appoint an independent judicial inquiry into the persistent allegations, from both South Africa and abroad, that the arms deal was corrupt.

This is not just a wilful demand from the media. Agencies in Germany and the UK have all investigated instances of bribery and corruption by the arms dealers who have sold weapons to South Africa. A judicial inquiry has also been demanded by local political parties, religious leaders and anti-corruption activists.

Zuma's financial adviser Schabir Shaik is in jail ­ or at least under guard in a hospital ward ­ after being found guilty of having a symbiotically corrupt relationship with the ANC president and French arms companies.

Tellingly, Mbeki's ministers cannot offer a categorical denial that the ANC did not receive money. Mbeki insists that his government's own stage-managed investigations *1 have found the arms deal to be clean ­ and he sends his henchmen out to attack the media.

We are expected to take the word of minister of public enterprises, Alec Erwin ­ who remained convinced that Eskom blacking out the country would not damage the economy, despite real evidence to the contrary ­ that the deal was clean and his president did not take money.

We have been warned by minister in the presidency Essop Pahad that the president is taking legal advice about the Sunday Times report. We are eagerly waiting.

The ANC and government are pushing towards law the controversial Press Tribunal which would regulate the media, and the Protection of Information Bill, which would make it illegal to publish "classified information'. These are worrying examples of the ruling party's willingness to suppress free speech and the media, rather than tackling corruption in its ranks.

Despite these threats, the Sunday Times and others committed to good governance will not give up their constitutional duty to find out why government spent billions of your tax money on an ill-considered arms deal.

With acknowledgements to Sunday Times.