What Is Zuma Hiding... [The Citizen, 2009-01-16]

Publication: The Citizen Issued: Date: 2009-01-16 Reporter: Paul Kirk

What Is Zuma Hiding...

Publication	The Citizen
Date	2009-01-16
Reporter	Paul Kirk
Web Link	www.citizen.co.za

Jacob Zuma's latest desperate attempt to escape prosecution for arms deal corruption may well have backfired on the party that desperately want him to become the next president of the country.

Reacting to speculation that Zuma's legal team had approached the National Prosecuting Authority in an attempt to convince them that Zuma was "small fry" and not worth prosecuting, Advocate Paul Hoffman SC told the Citizen that this move was clear evidence that a judicial commission of enquiry desperately needed to be appointed into the arms deal.

Hoffman is head of the Centre for Constitutional Rights of the FW De Klerk Foundation and, this coming week, will begin proceedings to force President Kgalema Mothlante to appoint a judicial inquiry into the deal.

Hoffman will be acting for Economists Allied for Arms Reduction who last week wrote to Mothlante asking him to appoint a Commission of Inquiry and giving him until yesterday afternoon to respond or face legal action.

Said Hoffman: "There are clear indications that Mister Zuma is indeed small fry in this deal. The state's case is that he accepted a R500 000 bribe in order to shield French arms company Thint from arms deal corruption investigations. That surely indicates that Thint had already paid bribes and were worried about being caught out. We need to know who it was that Thint and other arms dealers allegedly paid off."

Hoffman said the latest moves would strengthen his case that a Judicial Commission of Inquiry needed to be appointed. "It seems to prove that irregularities and corruption were indeed widespread during the deal - something the state have always denied."

On Friday the Mail & Guardian newspaper reported that Zuma's legal team had made approaches to the National Prosecuting Authority with a view to having them drop charges against Zuma in return for spilling the beans.

The newspaper quoted unnamed sources, however neither the ANC nor Zuma's legal team denied the negotiations were underway.

Hoffman told the Citizen that, in terms of the provisions of South Africa's anti-corruption laws it is a statutory offence for Zuma to not report acts of corruption around the arms deal.

Said Hoffman: "The law is quite clear, to know about corruption taking place and remain silent is a crime. If Mr Zuma has knowledge of corruption or bribes he has a legal as well as an ethical responsibility to report what he knows to the proper authorities."

Michael Hulley, Zuma's lawyer declined to comment on the article saying he did not respond to media reports quoting unnamed sources.

ANC spokesman Carl Niehaus declined to comment on the specifics of the story, but confirmed the ANC had appointed a legal team to assist Zuma. Niehaus confirmed that the ANC were only interested in a legal solutions to Zuma's legal woes and had no plans to enact legislation or alter the constitution to protect their presidential candidate.

The ANC has repeatedly claimed that the arms deal was completely above board and that only minor acts of corruption took place – none of which involved the primary contractors.

The latest attempts to keep Zuma out the dock suggest the ANC has known this to be a lie.

The M&G claims that an internal ANC investigation report into the arms deal, drawn up by former Judge Willem Heath, will be handed to the NPA during their submissions. This report clears Zuma of arms deal corruption – but supposedly nails former president Thabo Mbeki as well as former Minister of Defence Terror Lekota as arms deal crooks.

Mbeki and Heath are known to dislike each other. It was Mbeki who fired Heath as head of the corruption busting Special Investigating Unit.

Lekota was not Minister of Defence at the time the arms deal was put together.

Mukoni Ratshitanga, a spokesman for former president Thabo Mbeki, also declined to comment on the alleged negotiations. Ratshitanga dismissed the report as: "speculation".

With acknowledgements to Paul Kirk and The Citizen.