The presidency has refused to be drawn into claims that the Scorpions had met President Thabo Mbeki's legal adviser.

This was after suspended National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Vusi Pikoli revealed at the weekend that the Scorpions had sought a meeting with Mbeki.

The Scorpions apparently wanted to quiz Mbeki on meetings he was said to have held with foreign arms company executives at the time he spearheaded the cabinet committee charged with securing the arms deal.

Pikoli said Mbeki had referred the Scorpions' investigators to his legal adviser.

Although members of the Scorpions had met Gumbi around 2006 it was not clear what the outcome of the discussions were, Pikoli said.

Presidential spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga said he was not in a position to comment on the claims by Pikoli and revelations in the Sunday Times that offset projects from arms procurement did not result in the creation of thousands of jobs as promised by German firm MAN Ferrostaal.

Ratshitanga reiterated earlier statements that Mbeki was taking legal advice against the Sunday Times.

MAN Ferrostaal yesterday also stated that it was also taking legal advice on the media reports and denied it paid any bribes to Mbeki, ANC president Jacob Zuma or any public official.

Refuting the report that offset projects did not yield jobs in South Africa, the company's spokesperson Daniel Reinhardt said their projects were well underway.

ID leader Patricia de Lille said she was not surprised that the government had failed to penalise MAN Ferrostaal for failing to deliver on its promised offsets.

She said that yesterday's media report has vindicated her as they were contained in the De Lille dossier which was tabled in parliament in 1999.

Her dossier had led to the successful prosecution of former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni and Schabir Shaik and corruption being brought against Zuma, she said.

"The ID and the South African public want to know the truth behind the arms deal corruption because it diverted billions of rand from the poor," said De Lille.

With acknowledgements to Siyabonga Mkhwanazi and Cape Times.