JUDGE Willie Seriti's arms deal commission has not held a single hearing and already it is a shambles. In 2011, when President Jacob Zuma announced the commission, there was much cynicism about whether Seriti would roll up his sleeves to dig deep or simply to apply the whitewash. It turns out that this cynicism was justified.

Seriti's letter in which he says that "no evidence implicating the ANC has been brought to the attention of the commission" is unhelpful for him in a number of ways. Firstly, and most damagingly, it looks as if Seriti is giving the ruling party a blanket pass before any witnesses have even stepped forward. lt requires him to have an almost superhuman ability to ignore literally truckloads of documents and newspaper articles implicating the ANC.

Secondly, this will fuel mounting suspicions that Seriti's commission is performing a political task, not an investigative one. This is not just a conspiracy theory thumbsucked by "counter-revolutionaries"- it is the express accusation of Mokgale Moabi, a former investigator for the commission, who quit and accused Seriti of having a hidden agenda to throw soot over efforts to illuminate the arms deal.

The imminent departure of the commission's researcher, Kate Painting, expected this week, will only reinforce the impression of a commission in disarray.

On Friday, Beeld newspaper reported that the original R40-million given to Seriti's commission would not be enough to do the job. Nor, in fact, would Seriti's two-year deadline- to wrap up its work this year- be sufficient.

Sitting on one's hands is an expensive and time-consuming exercise, it seems.

lt is not too late for Seriti to inject some integrity into his commission: subpoena Chippy and Mo Shaik, subpoena Mac Maharaj, subpoena former ANC treasurer Mendi Msimang, subpoena the ANC's bank accounts and financial records for the period in which it is alleged to have taken bribes.

Anything less - especially in light of the chaos in Seriti's commission that we reveal today - will be seen as confirmation that Moabi was right: that a hidden agenda to sanitise the arms deal has already been implemented.

With acknowledgement to Stephan Hofstatter, Mzilikazi wa Afrika and Sunday Times.