Shamin “Chippy” Shaik, while head of procurement of the Department of Defence was allegedly illegally treated to lunch several times by Thint, the French arms company.
 
The lunches, held at various restaurants around Johannesburg, involved Thint executive Pierre Moynot and Shaik, and were held at a time after Shaik claimed to have recused himself from all meetings relating to Thint (then called Thomson CSF) as his brother was their SA business partner.
 
In terms of the South African Constitution the lunches would have been illegal as they flouted requirements that tenders be judged in an open and transparent way.
 
No mention has ever been made of the meetings between Shaik and Moynot by official arms deal investigators who knew of these at the time they prepared a report for Parliament.
 
Evidence of the secret lunches was obtained when investigators from the now disbanded Scorpions unit raided Pierre Moynot’s offices and home. On credit card slips and restaurant bills Moynot noted they related to lunches with Shaik – and claimed them as business expenses.
 
The Citizen has several of these slips – but has been told by reliable sources that there is evidence of several more meetings between Shaik and representatives of Thint. All of these meetings flout tender procedures and the Constitution.
 
Former ANC representative on the standing committee on public accounts Andrew Feinstein has said Shaik should have been charged with lying to Parliament when he claimed he had recused himself from decisions relating to Thint.

With acknowledgements to Paul Kirk and The Citizen.