CEO quits directorships and stays true to Zuma on citizenship vow

Thint, the French arms subsidiary which was in the dock with Jacob Zuma in his corruption trial, has closed its doors in Pretoria.

But it will soon be back in business as Thales South Africa Pty Ltd, reporting directly to the Paris head office of the French arms giant Thales International, a major player in South African defence, service and infrastructure contracts.

Charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering against Thint (Pty) Ltd and Thint Holding were formally withdrawn in the Durban High Court on April 7, the same day the National Prosecuting Authority dropped its case against co-accused Zuma.

Eight days later, the warrant of arrest for Thint representative Alain Thetard - originally granted in February, 2005 - was cancelled by Durban High Court Judge Kate Pillay.

As far as Thint lawyer Ajay Sooklal is concerned, the "mist" hanging over his client's corporate head has cleared, allowing the company to be wound up.

But Thint's chief executive, Pierre Moynot, won't be packing for Paris.

He retired yesterday, resigning all his directorships. Now, he intends applying for South African citizenship.

Moynot has lived in South African for the past 17 years and has permanent residence.

He acknowledges he held off doing so during Thint's battle with the NPA, "because in case of a major problem, it could have been easier for me to go back to France".

"As I told Zuma at the time: 'As soon as you are elected, I will take the citizenship.' Now I will," he laughed.

Moynot shares a lot more with Zuma. Like the president-in-waiting, he believes the corruption charges were part of a "political conspiracy".

"He (Zuma) was supposed to have received R250 000 from us. Do you really think that a deputy president could be corrupted for this kind of money?

"It did not happen. It was just because the previous president (Mbeki) was trying to get rid of him. That's it."

As far as Moynot is concerned, the changing of the name to Thales has nothing to do with trying to "launder" or rehabilitate a company whose image has been badly damaged.

When parent company Thomson CSF was rebranded in December, 2000, as Thales International, its South African subsidiaries, including African Defence Systems, were also supposed to reflect the name change, said Moynot.

However, he resisted.

"We were in court, remember. We thought if we changed (our name) while in court, we thought it might not be felt well."

Moreover, a company called Thales already existed in SA, which was why it was decided to use the name Thint. Thint had since bought the company and Thales SA would be up and running soon, said Moynot.

In the meantime, the handful of Thint staff members will move to ADS in Midrand.

Thint/Thales has an 80 percent shareholding in ADS, with the remaining stake going to General Lambert Moloi's Futuristic Business Solutions.

Thint/Thales increased its shareholding in ADS after buying Schabir Shaik's Nkobi Group's 20 percent for R20 million. But, said Moynot, the BEE stake in ADS would be increased soon.

ADS, which won the arms deal subcontract to supply the combat suite for the navy's corvettes, is competing with Atlas Elektronic for a new multibillion-rand contract to fit the navy's future multipurpose patrol vessels.

ADS CEO Christian Lamoureux will become the CEO of Thales South Africa.

With acknowledgements to Angela Quintal and The Star.