CONTROVERSIAL arms consultant Fana Hlongwane appears to have gone to ground, and arms deal commission head Judge Willie Seriti confirmed that they were unable to locate him.

Hlongwane is likely to be the central witness in the probe into alleged corruption and bribery relating to a 1999 arms deal *1.

The commission had wanted to send Hlongwane a letter on Friday, notifying him that he would be called as one of its witnesses along with 11 other people.

He was not reachable at either of his known addresses*2, in Hyde Park in Joburg or Umhlanga in Durban.

Yesterday his phone was answered by a man who identified himself as Philemon and said he was unable to hand Hlongwane the phone because they were not standing next to each other.

“We are at a funeral. It’s not even in South Africa,” he said. The phone was later switched off.

Judge Seriti said he could not say Hlongwane was evading the commission.

“As I said, we took the decision that the letters would be sent on Friday after 1pm. So we couldn’t find him yesterday [Friday]. So one can’t say he is evading us,” he said.

However, the commission would not hesitate to use its powers to subpoena uncooperative witnesses.

“You can rest assured that everyone who is going to be called as a witness, there will be a subpoena issued. And I’ve got no doubt in my mind that the subpoena we are going to issue will also reach Fana [Hlongwane],” said Judge Francis Legodi, a member of the commission.

The commission’s powers allow sanctions for those who refuse to appear before it.

At a press conference, Judge Seriti described Hlongwane as “a person whose name features in most of the allegations as a possible beneficiary of the arms procurement process”.

“He also features as a suspect in some of the investigations conducted in the matter.

“It is hoped that he will enlighten the commission on the role he played, if any, in the acquisition process and the legal basis, if any, for the benefits derived.”

Hlongwane joins former and present MPs Patricia de Lille, Andrew Feinstein, Raenette Taljaard, David Maynier, two Hawks investigators and arms deal investigation champion Terry CrawfordBrowne on the list.

Hlongwane, who served as adviser to then-defence minister Joe Modise between 1995 and 1998, acted as a consultant to arms defence consortium BAE/Saab.

He is alleged to have received several millions in “consultancy fees”, or what others perceive as kickbacks.

In June last year, Swedish firm Saab admitted that its British partner, BAE Systems, had paid R24 million in bonuses and salaries between 2003 and 2005 for the finalisation of a deal involving 26 JAS Gripen fighter aircraft.

Seriti speculated that those implicated in the decade-long scandal would want to clear their names. President Jacob Zuma, his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik and the ANC have been implicated in the kickback scandal.

Seriti said the commission was disappointed that it had only received seven submissions from the public. But it was pleased that a number of government departments had supplied the requested records.

So far, the commission has had 4.5 million pages to analyse.

Seriti said the commission was also receiving assistance from foreign investigative agencies, including prosecutors in Germany, Sweden, Liechtenstein and the UK.

“The commission could not ignore the crucial information and/or evidence that could have been amassed by these investigative bodies,” Seriti said.
The public hearings will be held between March 4 and May 31, 2013 in Pretoria. There will be a second phase of public hearings where more people are likely to be called.

With acknowledgement to Dianne Hawker and Weekend Argus.