| Publication |
Business Day |
| Date | 2011-11-23 |
| Reporter | Trevor Neethling |
| Web Link | www.bday.co.za |
PLEA: Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj speaks to the media about his
alleged link to the arms deal, in Pretoria yesterday
Picture: PUXLEY MAKGATHO
African National Congress stalwart hints that the arms deal controversy
in which he has been embroiled this week may be the work of a
third force *1
PRESIDENTIAL spokesman Mac Maharaj sought to shore up his skills as a
spin doctor yesterday, with an emotional plea that his rights had been
infringed and that he was "gatvol" of being a victim.
The African National Congress stalwart also hinted that the
arms deal controversy in which he has been
embroiled this week *2 may be the work of a third force.
Strenuously denying he accepted any bribes, Mr Maharaj said it was
significant that both the Sunday Times and Mail & Guardian had stated that
they had begun their investigations into his alleged bribe- taking
two months ago *3.
The two newspapers published damaging revelations about Mr Maharaj within
days of each other.
"Even with my lawyer I have sat and agonised over this. I have sat down with
my friends and asked the same question," he said.
But the former transport minister said he would not fret over it.
"It’s going to make me paranoid. It’s going to
drive me into a trench because I’m going to start questioning people’s
intentions and it’s going to cloud the issue," *5 he said.
The Mail & Guardian alleged that Mr Maharaj had lied under oath when giving
evidence to a Scorpions probe into the arms deal in 2001.
But the paper fell short of publishing its story last Friday.
It blackened the text on the front page after threats of criminal action
against the newspaper were made by Mr Maharaj.
He also laid a complaint against two of the newspaper’s journalists for
allegedly violating section 41(6) of the National Prosecuting Act.
Mr Maharaj said that the act made it an offence to disclose evidence
gathered in camera by a section 28 inquiry.
The case has since been referred to the Hawks, a move that Mail & Guardian
editor Nic Dawes yesterday labelled as nothing but a witch- hunt to expose
its sources.
This weekend the Sunday Times published its
story alleging that Mr Maharaj and his wife Zarina had received arms deal
bribes from French arms manufacturer Thales between 1997 and 1999 *5.
Mr Maharaj denied yesterday that he had taken any bribes, but is yet
to deny lying under oath.
"I have not been involved in any bribery. I have not been involved in any
corruption or broken any law. And I have not been charged for that in more
than five to seven years."
Mr Maharaj said probes by both the Scorpions and the Hefer commission had
failed to see any charges materialise against him. "(Bulelani) Ngcuka was
not my friend, nor was president (Thabo) Mbeki … so it could not have been a
cover-up."
In a room full of journalists, Mr Maharaj was at his most eloquent, asking
journalists to see his pain and evoking his time in detention.
"(Ahmed) Kathrada makes a joke, Mandela makes a joke. In prison I was having
a huge argument, to and fro throughout the night. Kathrada said to me that
we are in a single cell in isolation, who the hell were you arguing with? I
told them I was arguing with myself. I am not asking you (journalists) to
spend the whole night doing that."
He was adamant the Mail & Guardian had a case to answer and it should have
obtained permission to publish the information from the director of public
prosecutions.
Political analyst Steven Friedman disagreed. "Mr Maharaj is portraying
himself as a victim whose rights have been violated.
"What he has not done is come out and put the facts out there and proved he
has nothing to hide."
He said conspiracy theories notwithstanding, the allegations against Mr
Maharaj were serious.
"If these allegations are true then Mr Maharaj is not someone who should
hold such a high public office, let alone be involved in public life," Prof
Friedman said. With Sapa
With acknowledgements to Trevor Neethling
and Business Day.
+1
Even a chacma can count to five.
Sorry, Chippy can also do four dimensional vector calculus.
With a little help from his friends Pavel Tabakov, Victor Verijenko, Sarp
Adali, Ted Tauchert and V.G. Piskunov (see, I can also count to five).
But Mac can only see two so he thinks there must be a third force.
It's easy arsehole.
Sunday Times, and Mail & Guardian plus ????
Plus?
Plus City Press.
His third force leaked all of this to the City Press in 2007.
Why?
Because they hate you and your thieving kind.
Like we fishers of corrupt men hate you and your thieving kind.
It's simple.
And the most arrogant ones are the most delicious when snared.
*2
He is embroiled in the credit card driver's licence deal.
*3
*4
*5
This last weekend the Sunday Times did publish its story alleging that Mr
Maharaj and his wife Zarina had received drivers licence deal bribes from
French arms manufacturer Thales between 1996 and 1997.
The second of the bribery payment to Zarina Maharaj had been fully competed
by April 1997.
Seeing that the Arms Deal only kicked off in September 1997 and was signed
on 3 December 1999, there is no connection between the two.
Except that Thomson-CSF manufactures armaments and one of its subsidiaries
IDMATICS S.A. does drivers licence IT technology.
Schabir Shaik's Nkobi Holdings by crook and by crook got Thomson-CSF
agencies in the country and so became the common denominator paying bribes
to Jacob Zuma and Mac Maharaj.
Both Maharaj and Zuma are trying to muddy the waters by claiming the
relevance of the Arms Deal in order to give the former a say of execution
regarding his clearest of involvement in the drivers licence deal.
That's until they can work out how to do (semi-) permanent damage control of
both matters.