Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille has come out with guns blazing to shoot holes in suggestions that those guilty of corruption in the arms deal should be eligible for an amnesty.

De Lille told a University of the Witwatersrand Public Platform last night the argument that such an amnesty would allow the full truth behind the R50 billion deal to emerge was "flawed".

"First, those responsible for arms deal corruption do not deserve any form of amnesty because their actions were not about furthering a higher political cause, but rather their own greed and the coffers of the ANC.

"Corruption is criminal, not political," De Lille said.

"The second issue is one of values and morality. As a country, we are desperately in need of strong moral leadership. We need to say to our people that the law must be respected and if you break the law you will be punished."

De Lille first blew the whistle on alleged arms deal corruption nearly 10 years ago and emphasised in particular the allegation that the ANC received R500 000 from ThyssenKrupp, a member of the German Frigate Consortium contracted to build four corvettes.

Earlier this week, German prosecutors investigating alleged payments to South African officials said they had identified 12 suspects, nine of them former and serving ThyssenKrupp executives.

"The people of South Africa should not be fooled into thinking that without the granting of amnesty, the truth about arms deal corruption will never come out," De Lille said last night.

"The call for an amnesty is emerging at a time when the investigations by the UK, German and Swedish prosecution authorities into the arms deal are starting to uncover massive kickbacks to the tune of millions and when the ANC leadership is trying desperately to remove all obstructions in the way of a Jacob Zuma presidency.

"Let the ID make its stance very clear, the ANC president has the same right to a fair trial as any other South African."

The ruling party had now opted for an "orchestrated campaign to garner support for the idea of an amnesty", De Lille said. The ANC announced earlier this year that it would undertake its own investigation into the allegations so it would be fully informed of the circumstances surrounding the arms deal-related corruption charges against Zuma.

De Lille's repeated calls for a fully fledged arms deal investigation was supported from the start by Andrew Feinstein, then an ANC MP and member of Parliament's standing committee on public accounts.

Last month, Feinstein came out in support of an amnesty, with the strict proviso that it uncovered the full truth about the alleged corruption, that those guilty should give up their public positions and that kickbacks and bribes be returned to the state or the arms companies.

De Lille, however, said: "By granting amnesty for arms deal corruption we will be sending entirely the wrong message to our people.

"Government will be saying that there is a way out for those who break the law.

"What kind of precedent would we be setting if we pardoned criminals just because they happen to be members of the ruling party?"

With acknowledgement to Christelle Terreblanche and Cape Times.