'Why is the president free and why is Shaik still a
convict? C'mon!'
Others are off the hook - might as well set him free
Justice Malala: It is now time to let Schabir Shaik live the life of a free citizen of South Africa. Shaik's record must be expunged and he must receive a presidential pardon.
The news that the police investigative unit, the Hawks, has decided to close the last two active lines of inquiry in its investigation of bribe-taking and other forms of corruption in the R60-billion arms deal means that no top political or government leader will see the inside of a jail because of the deal. After 10 years of investigation and millions of rands spent - with names of senior political leaders and their friends cropping up at every turn - none will appear before a judge.
Instead, with mountains of public documents showing linkages stretching from the presidency to arms dealers across the world, the one investigation that should have led to some action by the authorities has been canned.
So no one is guilty of arms-deal corruption. So why should Shaik languish in jail because he is alleged to have bribed someone but the investigators cannot bring the person bribed and the rest of the bribers to court?
In an interview with the City Press newspaper, in December, Shaik referred to President Jacob Zuma and French arms company Thint and asked: "How come people that should have been charged are declared free to walk around and the man at the centre of things is still serving house arrest?"
He then asked: "Why should I even be asking for a pardon? If three people were part of a so-called plot to elicit funds from the French, why are the French free, why is the president free and why is Shaik still sitting as a convict? C'mon!"
"C'mon" indeed.
The scuppering of the arms-deal investigation is the final block in a trend that has been emerging around crime-fighting. The trend is that bodies such as the Hawks and the Special Investigating Unit are sent rushing after corruption in the civil service and in the provinces.
But where the smell of corruption envelops top politicians, the trail seems to end.
This is the tragedy and the genius of the dissolution of the Scorpions investigative unit. The truth is that, despite its faults, the Scorpions, should have continued to exist. That unit, which was shut down within months of the ANC's Polokwane conference taking the decision to scrap it, at least had the courage and the will to take on political bigwigs and bring them down.
That is why the investigation and ultimate conviction of top cop Jackie Selebi, the national police commissioner under President Thabo Mbeki, went ahead. That is why the prosecution of Shaik - and that of the then deputy president of the country, Jacob Zuma, could be mounted. There was, then at least, one investigative body that treated all of us equally and without fear or favour. Alas, the resolution to disband it succeeded.
Now, despite the presence of overwhelming evidence that corruption did indeed take place in the arms deal, that investigation has been scrapped. The Mail & Guardian and other media have in the past written about the flow of money from German arms manufacturers to South African politically connected individuals, but when asked why this leg of the investigation was shut down, the Hawks' Musa Zondi replied: "The main reason was that the investigation has not yielded any evidence that the prosecuting team finds useful."
Tellingly, the Hawks have not asked for evidence held by German authorities showing cash inflows into certain South African bank accounts. Yet the investigation was shut down. The commitment to law enforcement against politically connected individuals by this agency is reflected in just this one act: there isn't any.
It is useful to remember that, when charges of corruption against Zuma, relating to the arms deal, were abandoned by acting National Prosecuting Authority chief Mokotedi Mpshe in February last year, South Africa was promised a thorough investigation into how abuse of the law happened and into whether Zuma was targeted for political reasons. We all wait, with bated breath, for that investigation to take place.
Crucially, the dropping of the charges against Zuma has left him with a cloud of allegations hanging over his head. Given that Shaik, his friend, was convicted of giving him bribes, did Zuma take bribes or did he not?
The abandonment of the arms-deal investigations means we will never know. It means that, as a country, we will remain with a cloud hanging over our head. We spent billions on the arms deal and our leaders might have taken bribes - but we will never know for sure, despite evidence in the rest of the world.
So let Schabir Shaik go.
If no one is prosecuted for taking his bribes, then why should he be in jail?
With acknowledgements to Justice Malala and Sunday Times.
While Malala writes a good article, his (hopefully rhetorical) question fails on the tritest of natural logic :
- two wrongs do not make a right
The guilty natural persons need to go to jail along with Schabir Shaik and the juristic persons need to be disbarred from doing business again in this and every other right thinking country for 50 years (at least twenty).
Then the DPCI and NPA need to being charges against Chippy Shaik, Christoph Hoenings, Klaus-J Muller and Thyssen for corruption. Again the quality of the evidence is very high and so the prospects of success are equally high. In my view there's at least an 95% prospect of success. That's more than good enough to go after R175 million worth of covert payments (100% of which is known to the NPA as bribes paid by Thyssen, although it was probably twice as much).
The DPCI and NPA should also bring charges against Fana Hlongwane, Osprey Aviation, Alan MacDonald and British Aerospace. The evidence is good, it's just a pity that the DSO took from 2001 until 2007 to conduct search and seizures against BAe and so the juiciest of evidence had been spirit away. But in my view there's at least an 80% prospect of success. That's good enough to go after R1 billion worth of covert payments (at least 45% of which is known to the NPA as bribes paid by BAe).
If the NPA actually charged Zuma, Thints, Chippy Shaik, Thyssen and BAe and full criminal court cases were held (not plea bargains) alot of other information would surely come out and lead to investigation and indictment of many others.
It is not generally known that the first main investigation was against Thomson-CSF and in this regard the NPA/.DSO instituted a formal Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) to the Government of France. The Government of France did not even have the courtesy of responding, let alone assisting. This in itself indicates guilt of France Incorporated. It should be remembered that the Arms Deal was a clutch of government-to-government armaments acquisition deals. Thomson-CSF was not only representing the Government of France, but indeed was then about 80% owned by the Government of France. Jacques Chirac and Thabo Mbeki were dealing with the deal themselves. Chirac even phoned Mbeki to remonstrate with him when France was not awarded any of the prime contracts. As a sop to France and Chirac Mbeki ordered the DoD through Chippy Shaik to increase the French component at the lower levels, hence the Tavitac Combat Management System for the corvettes at the expense of the South African designed Action Information System (AIS) and Weapon Control Unit (WCU), french multi-role radar (MRR), French hullmount sonar, French internal communication system, French anti-ship Exocet missile, French helicopter engines and French radars for the helicopters. Indeed even on the corvette the French ended up getting a very tidy pile.
This was done by bribery. That is why Thomson-CSF were particularly worried about the Arms Deal investigation into Project Sitron. It's part of the official court record now. They expressed their fears in a damage control meeting with Schabir Shaik, Yann de Jomaron and Alan Thetard in Mauritius and again in the executive statement made by Thetard in terms of the French Encrypted Fax. They recorded that they needed to pay JZ 500ZAR per annum to protect them from this investigation. These facts are now beyond casual interpretation - they are establish High Court facts confirmed by the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The Teutonic Internal Memo recording the bribing by Thyssen of Chippy Shaik and a group represented by him is far more compelling than the French Encrypted Fax. A signed original exists (in a prosecutor's safe in Dusseldorf, Germany). It sets out all the facts and circumstances including the parties to the unlawful arrangement, the relevant time period, the amount, the consummation of the agreement, what was done by the bribed party (they - plural - manipulated the tender process) and what was received by the bribing party (a contract worth R6,873 billion at 20% higher that the best bid).
At the very least the SIU should hold a special tribunal under the Special Investigating Units and Special Tribunals Act and force the GFC to repay 20% plus interest of the contract price to the Taxpayers of South Africa.
The wooly headed Spaniards who lost the deal to the criminal Germans have never complained.
I wonder why not.
I heard from an Italian whose company lost the submarine deal to the German on equally questionable circumstance and also never officially complained, was that their bribes were not as high as those of the Germans.
At that time the Blohm+Voss and HDW shipyards where the corvettes and submarines were built were so close to bankruptcy that they would do anything to get the business - and i9ndeed that's exactly what they did.
Unfortunately it did help for long and they still went bankrupt within a few years forcing their sale to new owners in the Middle East, Sweden and Germany.
The German shareholder Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems (TKMS) quickly employed Project Director (For No Good Reason) Real Admiral (Junior Grade) (Retired at the Age of 50) Jonathan Edwin Gold Kamerman as Vice President for International Sales and still goes around the world trying to sell second and third world countries warships by means of the well practised and perfected technology of bribery - it's called An Inferior Product at a Superior (Higher) Price.
But meantime we've handed the DPCI and NPA winnable cases right onto their laps
But they refuse to act.
They simply refuse to do their duty.
They (at least the implicated individuals) should stand aside and let us do the job, including the wherewithal to do so (nulle prosequi, documentary evidence, funds).
Who hath testes large and resilient enough?
Who wanteth to eateth the elephants?
Bheki Jacobs had his share - he died. RIP.
Terry Crawford-Browne had a helping - he used up his life's savings.
I had a small bite - I got indigestion and nausea.
I have never even had a formal notification that my case had been discontinued by Lt-Gen Whipper Snapper and Chief Masterbater Anwar Dramat, the head of the gormless Directorate of Priority Crime Masterbation.
What the Head of the Post Chief Chacma SAPF (now our on bail pending an appeal with poor prospects), Gen (For Crying Out Loud) Real Real Estater and Real Good Friend Bheki Cele has to do will all this only a baboon might know.
Idhla Izindlovu.