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Quotes to be "Quoted"

A selection of quotes from and about southern and South Africa recently published in the media.

New Quotes

The Archive of Interesting Quotes 

New Quotes

 

"Most sinister of all, it undermines the Constitution by falsely claiming that a sitting president is above the law." -- DA leader Helen Zille (Mail and Guardian, 2009-09-17)

 

The Archive of Interesting Quotes

 

“Furthermore, it has since come to light that the Hong Kong judgment on which (Mpshe) relied was in any case overturned on appeal.” -- Richard Young said Mpshe apparently also based his decision to withdraw charges on a foreign judgment, and in the process ignoring recent jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Appeal. (Business Day, 2009-06-05)

"As I told Zuma at the time: 'As soon as you are elected, I will take the citizenship'. Now I will," he laughed. -- Pierre Moynot, the chief executive of French arms subsidiary Thint which was accused with Zuma of corruption, retired as the company officially ceased to exist on Thursday. (Independent Online, 2009-05-01)

"Jacob Zuma, Thabo Mbeki and Tony Yengeni all could not finish their terms of office because of this common deno-minator: the arms deal scandal." -- UDM leader Bantu Holomisa (Cape Argus, 2009-03-22)

“A prosecution is not wrongful merely because it is brought for an improper purpose.” -- The Supreme Court of Appeal’s (SCA’s) recent decision that charges against African National Congress president Jacob Zuma must stand. (Business Day, 2009-01-20)

I pose a question to Mbeki, Zuma and Motlanthe regarding the Arms Deal, the Pikoli affair and the Zimbabwean catastrophe: “Do you think that South Africans are all totally stupid?” -- D. Wolpert (The Citizen, 2008-12-17)

"If you ask me that question 14 years from now I'll still say [Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Chris] Nicholson was wrong. Completely wrong. I don't foresee a stage where I'm going to change my position on this one. He's wrong and that's what I told him." -- National Prosecution Authority director Mokotedi Mpshe quoted in City Press about Nicholson's ruling declaring corruption charges against ANC president Jacob Zuma invalid. (Sapa, 2008-11-20)

"Just as 'Coke Light' is still Coke, Mr [Terror] Lekota's party is still the ANC." -- FF Plus Chief Whip Corne Mulder. (Sapa, 2008-11-27)

In response to the R30-­million allegation printed in the Sunday Times, the presidency released a statement: “The presidency would like to place it on record that President Thabo Mbeki has never at any stage received any amount of money from MAN Ferrostaal ... In this regard, we recall the findings of the joint investigation into the strategic defence procurement package which found no evidence of ‘any improper or unlawful conduct by the government’.” Government later said Mbeki was considering his legal options. Ferrostaal made similar comments to the M&G this week. -- (Mail and Guardian, 2008-08-08)

"Now I don't know where the issue of 'delaying the case comes from... because I'm following procedure. I have a problem with that statement because I'm exercising my Constitutional rights - but I'm accused of delaying tactics." "I love you all and I will always listen to what you say. When you ask me to do something, I won't argue, I'll do exactly that," - Ruling party leader Jacob Zuma lashed out at the media in an address to his supporters outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday. (Independent Online, 2008-08-05)

A close associate of Madaka, asking not to be named, told the M&G a similar story: Madaka told him that “everyone knew” Mbeki took money from the Germans. “Paul [Madaka] told me it was in cash, which was brought back on the presidential jet.” -- (Mail and Guardian, 2008-08-08)

"I think ignoring these warnings was most definitely reckless," -- Paul Dunne, a professor of economics at the University of the West of England, who specialises in the economics of peace, security and military spending, described the affordability study as "a very thorough piece of work". (Sunday Times, 2008-08-03)

"[This case] will go down in history as the first political trial, post-apartheid" -- Nzimande told reporters outside the Constitutional Court, referring to the outcome of the Constitutional Court Judgment (Sapa, 2008-07-31)

"I'm saying, a judge found to maybe [have] behaved in a delinquent way, the judges must drag that man to the right carpet in the internal processes and deal with that issue without creating a hullabaloo about [ANC] President Jacob Zuma, and so forth, and so forth." -- Mantashe. (Sapa, 2008-07-17)

"There is no Zuma camp in the ANC. There is no Mbeki camp in the ANC. Nobody, including members of the ANC and the media, should use our names to pursue divisive goals that have nothing to do with the truth." -- President Thabo Mbeki and ANC president Jacob Zuma in a letter written to City Press (Sapa, 2008-06-12).

"That means someone is subsidising big industry's electricity. Guess who? You and I." -- Carte Blance (MNet, 2008-04-06)

“South Africans are well used to criminals attempting to pass themselves off as victims. Allan Boesak, Tony Yengeni, Jacob Zuma, Schabir Shaik — the list goes on. And all insist they are either completely innocent or political scapegoats.” -- The Insider (Business Day, 2007-12-07)

“Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure.” -- Roman Historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus (Business Day, 2007-12-07)

This neologism, "Erwinism", has two meanings in my lexicon. It could be a statement so stupidly dishonest that it exemplifies what is worst about a complacent, arrogant government minister who has been in his job for too long. Or it could mean "to speak in muffled tones", as in how one would sound if one's head was so far up the president's butt that one's brain was not getting sufficient oxygen. -- Anton Harber (Business Day, 2008-02-06)

Mbeki and Erwin are two of the biggest liars that this country has ever known.
One basically cannot trust anything that comes out of these vegetables' mouths except that it may be okay for fertilizing the vegetables.
But, then again, maybe not.
One does not fertilize the earth with vulture manure.
Vegetable, vulture - whatever?

Has Schabir Shaik acquired the SA franchise for generators? I think we should be told. -- Jon Quirk, Rivonia (Business Day, 2008-01-21)

"Every human being has the right to dignity and no one should get away with malicious slander. As I have said from the outset, my claims for defamation and injuria arise from the principle of fair and honest reporting."-- Jacob Zuma after he reached a settlement with Rapport. (Sapa, 2008-01-17)

"The hard work ... begins today, and it must be done by all of us, as one united ANC." -- Jacob Zuma in his January 8 speech in Atteridgeville.  (Sapa, 2008-01-17)

"Yengeni basically destroyed the SCOPA (Standing Committee on Public Accounts) inquiry into the arms deal ... He misled parliament ... and I would be very surprised if he didn't have the support of the president (Mbeki) when he did so." -- Andrew Feinstein. Amid the announcement of a new ANC probe into the arms deal, Tony Yengeni the man who allegedly played a "very substantial" part in quashing the first inquiry into the deal has landed one of the party's plum positions.  (The Star, 2008-01-09)

“I think it is contrary to ANC culture not to tell the truth. That is what is un-ANC. The ANC is never uncomfortable with the truth,” -- said Lekota, responding to Skweyiya’s statement that his behaviour was anti- ANC. (The Times, 2007-12-06)

“I think that nothing is going to happen here [in South Africa]. The truth of the arms deal will emerge from investigations in the UK and Germany, where they are investigating more than 200-million of bribes that were paid in the South Africa deal.” -- Former MP Andrew Feinstein, author of After the Party, a memoir of his experiences within the ANC, on the unfolding arms scandal. (The Times, 2007-11-04)

"It's about fighting the system they have built, a system of patronage based on tenders, jobs and land. It is a tragedy that we must take to the polls." -- Senior ANC leaders. (Business Day, 2007-11-21)

Sounds like Zimbabwe, but's its actually South Africa in November 2007.
Remember the land.
In 2017 that's all that'll be left still to parcel out.

Is she saying Mandela was a crook and was planning to steal money? I reject with contempt these assertions. -- Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota on Patricia de Lille's allegation that the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund received R500 000 from a firm that benefited from the arms deal tender. (The Star, 2007-11-10)

"And I think that can only undermine our democracy. If any individual is innocent, let them go to court and prove their innocence in the courts" -- Lekota said. Pretoria News, 2007-10-17)

"So, Mo, Bra Shaik should get a lighter sentence for his 'non-violent crime'? A crime is a crime pal, and he got his just desserts." -- SMS Feedback (Cape Argus, 2007-10-06)

"The hit song on Thabo Mbeki's CD is Let's Twist the Truth Like We Did Last Summer." -- SMS Feedback (Cape Argus, 2007-10-06)

Another prosecutor commented: "This whole thing simply cannot be about so-called working relationships, it simply cannot be. I think that everyone is smelling a very large rat. -- One of the prosecutors in the Zuma Corruption Trial (The Star, 2007-09-25)

"If one reads in particular the replying affidavit it appears that the language complained of is in fact intemperate and offensive.  It is the type of language that should not be used in court documents without proper foundation.  In fact it does not reflect well on the person *1 using such language." - W.J. van der Merwe, Judge of the High Court, Pretoria ( 2007-09-14)

"If a person professes his innocence, then why go to all these lengths to prevent the evidence being obtained?" - Durban High Court Judge Jan Hugo, querying Jacob Zuma's advocate Kemp J Kemp on his attempts to stop the State obtaining documents from Mauritius that might relate to arms deal corruption. (News24, 2007-06-01)

“I think on Jacob Zuma’s record, I think that he will have great difficulty winning this election in the ANC.” - Public Enterprises Minister Alec Erwin on Zuma’s chances of leading the party.  (Sapa, 2007-04-10)

"Undeterred by these considerations, [Advocate Billy] Downer arrived back in South Africa [from Mauritius] after triumphantly flourishing the copies he had unlawfully obtained. I say that Downer triumphantly flourished the copies on the strength of a photograph published in ________ on _______, a copy of which I annex hereto marked "A". The person depicted in the photograph is Downer. The caption to the photographs speaks for itself." - Jacob Zuma (2007-02-09)

"Because the ultimate responsibility for the South African Arms Deal rests with President Thabo Mbeki, who as Deputy President (at the time) presided over the Cabinet committee responsible for the Arms Acquisition Process -- We must ask ourselves -- what does he have to hide?" -  asked De Lille as she arrived from Germany and the UK where she interacted with those countries authorities in their arms deal investigation.. (Sapa, 2007-02-04)

My tip for the president is to insist that the state is not a site of enrichment, but the site of delivery for all. - Tony Leon (Sunday Independent, 2007-02-04)

Zuma is one of the few leaders with whom I would sit around a fire. He’s an honest man and speaks like an Afrikaner -- a straightforward person.” - Celebrity Steve Hofmeyr after a braai with the ANC deputy president. (Sapa, 2007-04-10)

“In the end I resigned because, as secretary for defence, I was going to have to account for the costs to Parliament, which I couldn’t do,” Steyn told the Mail & Guardian.  - Former secretary of defence Pierre Steyn has spoken out for the first time about the arms deal, revealing that he resigned in November 1998 over the decision to force through the purchase of British Aerospace (BAE) Hawk jet trainers at twice the cost of those of the Italian bidder favoured by the air force. (Mail and Guardian, 2007-02-02)

"At the risk of stating the obvious, it is normally not in the interests of a guilty accused that ‘the full truth about an incident’ emerges." -- Johan du Plooy (2007-02-15) (At the risk of stating the obvious, the more accused who can be found guilty, the more truth that emerges. Jacob, The Two Thints, The Thyssen Ten, The Thales Trio, Ferrostaal , Chippy, Ian Elvis, Comrade Joe, Fana, The Big Fish. Fry 'em.)

The Shaik and Yengeni trials do not help to instill a new culture of law and order in our country. Neither does the fact that it is left up to British and German prosecutors to finger South Africans involved in the arms deal corruption. -- Patricia de Lille, ID Leader (Daily News, 2007-02-15)

“It was always Modise and his friends Haywood and Swan who had had their minds made up from the start *1,” Steyn recalled. “And there was, of course, also Chippy Shaik, whom I was told to appoint. It was clear he was there to follow the minister’s orders.” - Former secretary of defence Pierre Steyn has spoken out for the first time about the arms deal, revealing that he resigned in November 1998 over the decision to force through the purchase of British Aerospace (BAE) Hawk jet trainers at twice the cost of those of the Italian bidder favoured by the air force. (Mail and Guardian, 2007-02-02)

"In the Northern Cape," says an ANC member fed up with corruption and the fight for contracts, "we no longer have an ANC leadership. We have an ANC dealership." -- Financial Mail (2007-01-19)

"In my view it would be kinder to take the pilot behind the hangar and shoot him, than put him in that position" - According to Helmoed-Römer Heitman, the Southern African correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly, the world's most respected defence publication, the little subsonic two-seater Hawks would be of precious little use in real air combat. (The Star, 2007-01-13)

"Everything you've heard about preferential treatment is true. They're trying to cover it up. Everyone is too afraid to speak to the media" - A warder said after ex-ANC chief whip, Tony Yengeni, left Malmesbury Prison yesterday after serving just over four months of a four- year sentence. (The Star, 2007-01-16)

"Zuma's rendering of Bring Me My Machinegun has led to him shooting himself in the foot." -- Cape Argus Columnist (2006-11-08)

"The State, therefore, proved that Thomson committed an offence in terms of s 1(1)(a)(i) of the CA." [CA : Corruption Act 94 of 1992] -- Howie P, Mpati DP, Streicher, Navsa, et Heher JJA (Supreme Court of Appeal, Bloemfontein, 2006-11-06)

"[125] The attitude exhibited by Shaik .....is completely destructive of his counsel’s contention that the Shaik-Zuma interaction was reasonably possibly prompted by nothing more than mutual assistance of close friends." -- Howie P, Mpati DP, Streicher, Navsa, et Heher JJA (Supreme Court of Appeal Bloemfontein, 2006-11-06)

"Forgive me if I am wrong, but the more I see these people operate, the more it seems to me that they see nothing wrong in stealing, only in being caught out. God help this nation. We are rotten to the bone." -- Hansie Louw, ACDP provincial leader, when Tony Yengeni threw a party for his friends shortly before the end of his first weekend from Malmesbury Prison.   (Cape Times, 2006-11-13)

In the Words of Schabir Shaik -- Sunday Times (2006-11-12)

"Don't worry shaik, u wil receive a presidential pardon in 2009 when zuma becomes president. scorpions wil be banned. mbeki wil b jailed. u wil receive the appointment as the new minister of corruption." -- Eric Lankie (Daily News, 2006-11-09)

"I can't believe it," he said. "Boom, boom, boom, 1, 2, 3, they didn't uphold anything. All the lawyers were wrong about what was going to happen." --  Schabir Shaik after he heard the news of the failure of his appeal against corruption and fraud charges. (Sapa, 2006-11-06) 

"For a period of five years my person has been subjected to all types of allegations and innuendo, paraded through the media and other corridors of influence without these allegations having being tested. I have thereby been denied my constitutional right to reply and defend myself.”  -- Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, 2005-06-29. (Now The People represented by The State want to give him his constitutional right to reply and defend himself in court, but he wants none of it.)

"I was branded a crook who had covered his tracks well. I was banished to political purgatory." -- Zuma, describing in court papers the effect of the 2003 announcement that though the State had prima facie evidence of corruption against him, he would not be prosecuted because the case was not winnable. (Sapa, 2006-08-24)

"Twenty years ago we had the ability to launch satellites into low-earth orbit. Now Denel is capable of pushing out small pieces of brass for 5.55mm ammunition? That is pathetic, especially given the lip service paid by the ministers of trade and industry, public enterprises and defence to sustaining the defence industry."  --Richard Young  (Sunday Argus, 2006-10-08)

"The cost to the public of exempting a fraudulent perpetrator from liability for fraud would be too high." -- E. Cameron and F.D.J. Brand, Judges of Appeal, Bloemfontein (2006-09-08)

'The ideological commitments are all on a back burner. For now it’s about power, personalities and old scores' -- Buhlungu on the Zuma vs Mbeki bid to become president. (Sunday Times, 2006-09-04)

"A consignment of pumpkins is criticised on the ground that the pumpkins delivered on day two are too large when compared with a consignment of apples delivered on day one." -- Zuma's response to a list of questions from the Scorpions on his role in the arms deal. (Sapa, 2006-08-24)

"I want him to be on a platform where he talks instead of singing that bloody song." -- Michael Sham, organiser of a R590-a-head business breakfast to be addressed by Zuma, who is noted for his trademark uMshini wam struggle song. (Sapa, 2006-08-24)

"BEE has not been as successful as it should have been because it has been done in terms of the enrichment of only a very small elite from within the black community." -- Alan Boesak (Sunday Times, 2006-07-30)

"I think our democracy needs far more vigorous opposition than we are able to produce at the moment." -- Alan Boesak (Sunday Times, 2006-07-30)

"If they have designs on high public office, they may find that a healthier approach to adopt is 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen'. Or is it the shower?" -- Defamation law expert Dario Milo warning that politicians such as Zuma should think twice before suing. (Sapa, 2006-07-13)

"We remain very confident that the major contracts, not only were they well-managed but, I think, these very many years later, have been very successful contracts." -- Public Enterprise Minister Alec Erwin, saying South Africa will co-operate with a German probe into alleged arms deal kickbacks over the purchase of four corvettes. (Sapa, 2006-07-06)

"Apropos of absolutely nothing, Oom Krisjan would like to use this opportunity to apologise to African National Congress Youth League president Fikile Mbalula for any and all past unkind words, and wishes him well for his inauguration as president of the republic in 2024." --Mail and Guardian columnist Krisjan Lemmer in the wake of a multi-million rand slew of Jacob Zuma defamation lawsuits against the media. (Sapa, 2006-07-13)

"The Hollywood-style of investigations did nothing for law enforcement, but rather served to humiliate those accused and thereby undermining their constitutional rights." -- The African National Congress Youth League, welcoming the restructuring of the Scorpions. (Sapa, 2006-07-06)

"Would that be your reputation as a disgraced chauvinistic demagogue who can't control his sexual urges and who thinks a shower prevents Aids?" --Cartoonist Zapiro's response Jacob Zuma's announcement that he is suing Zapiro for damage to his reputation. (Sapa, 2006-07-06)

"May the next 64 years be better than the last 64 ... it is a pity you need to be here today," -- Judge Willem van der Merwe told Zuma after he entered court to spend his 64th birthday on trial for rape.  (Cape Argus, 2006-05-13)

"this man had sold out the interest of his country for personal gain while he was in a position of trust". -- Judge Preller said Yengeni was not an ordinary citizen, but a public official who had been convicted of corruption. (Cape Times, 2006-04-27)

"In what capacity does Lekota come here? Is it as defence minister, in which case he is here to shoot us. Or as ANC chairman, in which case he is here to lie to us. Either way, he is not welcome." -- Khutsong resident Lucas on ANC chairman and Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota's recent visits to Khutsong. Lucas did not give his surname in the comment he made on Business Day. (Sapa, 2006-03-02)

"I honestly cannot recall"  -- President Thabo Mbeki on whether he met top executives of French arms company Thomson-CSF - now known as Thales - in Paris in 1998. (Sunday Independent, 2006-02-26)

"It depends. One of the things we have to guard against is acting in any way that reduces the esteem, prestige, authority of this institution (Office of the President)." -- President Thabo Mbeki on whether he will testify in the corruption trial of axed deputy president Jacob Zuma. (Sapa, 2006-03-02)

"I'm now the victim in Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma's political fight" -- Said a shattered Schabir Shaik on Tuesday, after Durban High Court ruled that the State was entitled to confiscate assets to the value of R34m from him. (News24, 2006-01-31)

"It is important to remember that the French have always been there when they needed us." -- Alan Kent

"I was going to declare Zuma my Man of the Year in this column today, and his apparent zest for life really does hold out hope for any man approaching his sixties." (Peter Bruce, Business Day, 2005-12-05)

He said he would take SA into his confidence and tell the full story of his corruption trial once the legal process was over. -- Jacob Zuma (Business Day, 2005-10-26)

'I want a full and proper trial according to the letter of the law. I am not going to be abused in any way. The Scorpions need to know that they need to be very careful. They are not going to get the relatively easy ride they had in the prosecution of Schabir Shaik'." - Said Jacob Zuma to his legal team (Sunday Argus, 2005-10-16)

‘Be careful what you wish for; you might get it.” -- The old adage has never seemed more apt in the light of the ironies thrown up by the Jacob Zuma saga. (Mail & Guardian, 2005-08-26)

“The reason for punishing corruption in the private sector is that it subverts the principle of lawful competition and free enterprise because the corruptor may be offering the bribe to obtain preferment over some competitor whose product or services is actually better than the offeror, but who cannot or will not resort to bribery. And in the public sector it is punished because society has an interest in the transparency and integrity of public administration.” -- Judge Squires (Business Day, 2005-08-08)

zumamediatrial.com : Some Interesting Quotes (2005-07-04)

zumamediatrial.com : More Interesting Quotes (2005-07-04)

Some three and half years ago, the Joint Investigation Team of the Auditor-General, the Public Protector and the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions completed its work and released to Parliament a report on the Defence Procurement Process. This Team came to the conclusion that: "No evidence was found of any improper or unlawful conduct by the Government. The irregularities and improprieties ... point to the conduct of certain officials of the government departments involved and cannot ... be ascribed to the President or the Ministers involved in their capacity as members of the Ministers' Committee or Cabinet. There are therefore no grounds to suggest that the Government's contracting position is flawed." -- President Thabo Mbeki during his statement on the release of Jacob Zuma. (2005-06-14)

"I believe in ubuntu and helping others... those whose cultures who cannot recognise this must come to terms with their maker." -- After his sentencing Shaik said he was Zuma's friend. (Sapa, Independent Online, 2005-06-08)

"Did we expect anything else from the judge? He is a cynical, mad person who is still raw because his apartheid existence came to an end. We will never judge our leaders according to the standards of an apartheid judge." -- Turks Mbalula and Buti Manamela, leader of the Young Communist League - against Judge Hilary Squires, after he convicted Schabir Shaik of corruption and fraud last week. (The Star, 2005-06-08)

The case for a generally corrupt relationship between Shaik and Deputy President Jacob Zuma is "not only convincing, but overwhelming". --  Judge Hillary Squires (Sapa, 2005-06-01)

"To grasp at a possible straw of salvation, to seek refuge in a version that was not testified or tested, is self-serving and repugnant." -- This was the reaction on Wednesday of prosecuting advocate Billy Downer to the late argument by Schabir Shaik's counsel that Shaik could have lied to the Durban High Court and defrauded French arms company Thomson-CSF and its South African operation's boss, Alain Thetard, by giving the impression that he was soliciting a bribe to Deputy President Jacob Zuma when, in fact, he was pocketing the money for himself. (The Natal Witness, 2005-05-05)

"The epic has now been traversed as promised. Unfortunately the epic has proven to be anything but heroic." -- Prosecutor Billy Downer, in closing argument in Schabir Shaik's fraud and corruption trial. He began the case with a classical allusion to an epic of "arms and a man". (Sapa, 2005-04-28)

"There can be no progress without contradiction. Even as you walk, your legs are in contradiction. One goes forward and the other remains at the back and when the other one moves forward, the other remains." -- Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who is travelling the length and breadth of South Africa drumming up support for his bid for the top job. This from a man with one foot in the presidency and the other in the frying pan. (Sunday Times, 2005-03-20)

"The only time I found the French amenable to assist was when I went to them for money for the Mbeki Trust Fund and the Mandela Trust Fund." -- Corruption accused Schabir Shaik, on his difficulties in securing arms company donations for the Jacob Zuma Education Trust. (Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2005-03-03) 

"My view is my view. Zuma is unstoppable, and I hold strongly to that view. I know exactly how it (the debate) would go. It would go the Zuma way. My own judgment is that Zuma will win. I have no doubt about that." -- General Secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), Zwelinzima Vavi (Business Day, 2005-03-10)

"We will go to the ends of the earth to bring the truth before this court," -- Shaik said in television interview on Thursday after his legal team flew to Paris for the weekend. Although he would not confirm the purpose of the trip to Paris he said "we have lined up several surprise witnesses". (Sapa, 2005-02-11)

"[Like] trying to fight against the big wave of the tsunami." -- Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi on attempts to prevent Jacob Zuma, his favourite for the post, becoming the next president of South Africa. (Sapa, 2005-03-10)

"It's been a long trial. I have been under a lot of stress and my words are spinning out of context. I am trying to be accurate and I ask for your forgiveness." -- Corruption accused Schabir Shaik under cross-examination by prosecutor Billy Downer in the Durban High Court.  (Sapa, 2005-03-10)

"Just hurry up." -- Judge Hilary Squires to Downer.  (Sapa, 2005-03-10)

"You don't know what happened at the meeting. For all we know they could have had a game of poker." -- Durban High Court judge Hilary Squires Shaik's account of a meeting his auditors had over how to handle his company's so-called "development costs". (Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2005-03-03).

"Beware of the French," he said. "The French cannot be trusted." -- Shabir Shaik (The Natal Witness, 2005-02-25)

"I'm sorry I'm having this effect on you". -- Prosecutor Billy Downer's reply when Shaik walked up to him to apologised for not feeling well and then left the court. (Sapa, 2005-02-08)

"My view is that the Auditor General should be called before two committees of Parliament, both of which should desist from the questioning procedures contrived to ensure the AG was not cornered in his two previous arms deal-related appearances in Parliament." -- Former chairman of the standing committee on public accounts, Gavin Woods, commenting on new claims that the AG's report on the arms deal was doctored. (Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2005-01-28)

It is in the art of giving that a corporation comes closest to being a conscious entity - a living organisation of caring, thinking people. As we focus on business opportunities today and beyond tomorrow, we will not lose sight of our moral responsibilities to help those less fortunate. We believe that progress and success should be shared in order to build a better nation. This is the collective visions of all of us in Nkobi Holdings. - Schabir Shaikh., CEO Nkobi Holdings.

"When your friend becomes deputy president -- you will be in the pound seat!" -- Ahmed Sadiq Vahed in a scribbled 1997 note to his son-in-law Schabir Shaik. The note was produced by the prosecution at Shaik's corruption trial. (Sapa, 2005-02-14)

"To say that there is no cause of action in the circumstances of the case is fundamentally repugnant." - Judge Webster in the Judgment between C²I² Systems vs the Minister of Defence, Armscor and ADS. (Judge Webster, 2005-01-27)

Compared to the tsunami, conflict in Iraq and the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, Shaik believes "mine is not a problem, just a slight irritation ... like a mosquito around your ankle". -- Sapa (Mail and Guardian, 2005-01-17)

Quote Unquote from the Shaik Trial  -- The Star (Estelle Ellis, 2005-12-11)

"Together we must avoid the resort to populism and catchy newspaper headlines that have nothing to do with the truth and everything to do with the pursuit of self-serving agendas." -- President Thabo Mbeki, replying to Archbishop Desmond Tutu's charge of sycophancy in the ANC. (Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2004-12-02)

"Thank you Mr President for telling me what you think of me, that I am --a liar with scant regard for the truth, and a charlatan posing with his concern for the poor, the hungry, the oppressed and the voiceless." --Tutu. (Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2004-12-02)

"Relations between the president, the ANC and the archbishop are cordial, normal and harmonious -- there's no crisis at all in our view." -- ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama. (Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2004-12-02)

"The alliance will remain tenacious, it has nothing to do with Vavi, he is a very, very young child in the alliance." -- Ngonyama questioning "toxic statements" by Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi in the ongoing war of words between the two organisations. (Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2004-12-02)

"He cannot be objective... because he is part and parcel of the parasitical accumulation of capital." -- Vavi on Ngonyama, who recently brokered a major Telkom share deal. (Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2004-12-02)

"Africans should make peace with colonialism and move on"
"Africans must learn not to blame the West for their problems but to learn from them and move forward"
-- Isaac dos Anjos Angolan Ambassador to South Africa, 2004-11-03

"It would be a quite grievous mistake
To credit the rumour
That big-spending Zuma
Slipped me part of the armaments cake".                  
-- Said sartorially elegant  Shaik (Noseweek, 2004-12-01)

"The Shaik trial is exposing the lamentable arms deal as seething with the shrouded manoeuvre, the false cards, the bottom dealing, the double-lift, the vanishes and acquittals of the conjurer."  -- Robert Kirby, Mail & Guardian, 29 October 2004

"It seems that certain individuals are not satisfied with a single bout of empowerment. Instead, they are the beneficiaries of repeated bouts of re-empowerment." -- ANC Secretary_General Kgalema Motlanthe, on black economic empowerment.  (Sapa by Ben Maclennan, 2004-10-07)

"I wondered why Zuma would suggest one company in particular. I also found it unusual that a minister had to be helped to write a letter. It did not fill me with confidence." -- British tourism consultant John Lennon telling the Schabir Shaik trial how he received a letter from Deputy President Jacob Zuma recommending Shaik's company as a partner in a tourism school venture. (Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2004-12-02)

"The custom of posing sweetheart questions to the executive perpetuates a tradition within the ANC, as one observer crassly put it, of farting each other warm." -- Commentator Rhoda Kadalie on what she said was the lack of independent thinking in Parliament. - Ben Maclennan, Sapa, 2004-12-02

Woods said Scopa was also concerned about the process in awarding the fighter trainer contract because they felt that "particular interventions took place that was very far removed from the procurement process." (Gavin Woods, Shaik Trial, 2004-11-29)

A note on the quote :

"I like being cross examined." -- KPMG forensic auditor Johan van der Walt after 16 days in the stand at the Schabir Shaik trial. (Sapa, 2004-11-24)

"Labour intensive." -- John Dwyer, former manager of Absa Private Bank's Durban office, describing the troubled bank accounts of Deputy President Jacob Zuma and his adviser Schabir Shaik. The month Zuma became a client, he exceeded his overdraft limit the day after his monthly salary was paid into his account. (Sapa, 2004-11-24)

"Schabir Shaikh, now known as the National ANC Rescue Institute."  -- Robert Kirby, Mail & Guardian, 2004-10-29

"The Shaik trial is exposing the lamentable arms deal as seething with the shrouded manoeuvre, the false cards, the bottom dealing, the double-lift, the vanishes and acquittals of the conjurer."  -- Robert Kirby, Mail & Guardian, 29 October 2004

Simplistic Puzzle of the Week : 
What's the difference between "conflict of interest" and "conflicts with intention"? - Richard Young, 2004-11-22

"Schabir Shaikh, now known as the National ANC Rescue Institute."  -- Robert Kirby, Mail & Guardian, 29 October 2004

"Now available at Azania.com, price ZAR500 000 in as many yearly installments as you may think it necessary to pay off the capital amount (if at all). Interest is charged at prime rate plus 2%, or if your religious beliefs cause you not to believe in interest, we'll charge it anyway and donate it to a charity of our choice or your choice or whatever (even back to you). Please confirm your choice of interest scheme by means of pre-arranged encoded declaration and fax same to us by encrypted fax. If you don't have an encrypting fax machine, there might be a Thomson office in your area."  -- Richard Young, 2004-11-18

Van der Walt said if a revolving loan agreement was taken into account, interest accrued on the loan of R1,2 million had already equalled the capital by June this year. The agreement provides for interest of prime plus two percent. Defence advocate Francois van Zyl said it was against Shaik's principles as a Muslim to accept interest, and that he would donate the money to charity. (Sapa, 2004-11-15)   Simplistic Altruism I : In late 2000 Shaik was wimpering to Alain Thetard and Jean-Paul Perrier of Thomson-CSF about the non-payment of the relatively trifling sum of R500 000. Now just three years later, Big Guy is insistent on donating to charity upwards of R14 million (in 2014 or R28 million in 2019) of accumulated irreligious interest.

From the Public Protector Hearings

Rear Admiral (Junior Grade) Jonathan Edwin Gold Kamerman, DoD Corvette Project Director, in public testimony under oath in rebuttal, 31 August 2001 :

"So then the next theme that I come to from Dr Young's evidence is that his claim or statement or innuendo, or whichever you wish it to be, is that Thomson and France as an entity, France Incorporated as I call it, was irregularly favoured by the state to secure the supply of other sub systems to the Corvette against more cost effective equipment preferred by the Navy.

Particularly in this case, and he mentions them, the Surveillance and Target Acquisition Radar, the so-called STAR, the hull-mounted sonar, so-called HMS, and the surface to surface missile, or the anti-ship missile, the so-called SSM.

He says this in an attempt, I believe, it would appears to be from his evidence, that somehow the fact that these items went to French companies is proof or indication that his overall seem (sic) that there was an irregular situation pertaining to the award of equipment to French companies, inter alia the Detexis system, inter alia to French controlled companies such as ADS, etcetera, and then this is his supporting evidence, if you will.

Well, in this entire report, I personally find that to be the most scurrilous allegation of all, because it attacks the very fundamental basis of our tendering process, of our integrity as a project team, as a project control board and ultimately, in fact, the government integrity.

It also implies that we would stoop to selecting equipment for our nation's defence based on a favouritism towards any particular foreign entity, and that in itself is a scurrilous allegation with regard to not only the processes and our official obligations in terms of officials of the state, but also in terms of the commissions we hold in terms of the Constitution of South Africa to uphold the defence of the state and its constitution."

Rear Admiral (Junior Grade) Jonathan Edwin Gold Kamerman, DoD Corvette Project Director, in public testimony under oath in rebuttal, 31 August 2001 :

"But I can assure you and your panel that there was no consideration of the fact that it was a French origin missile, or a Swedish origin missile, or anything else. We don't do things like that. The point that I am trying to make in this entire exercise is that the allusion and the insinuation, the innuendo that drips in Mr Young's allegation that we favoured French companies in the selection of our primary fighting equipment, is simply not true. It is unfounded, and in fact is a mischievous fabrication.

He has no knowledge, I would very much hope, well he certainly hasn't indicated that he has knowledge, of any of those tender documents, any of the technical specifications, any of our value system criteria and any of the prices. He quotes a price for the Exocet missile and then goes on to speculate, well this price is so low, it probably didn't include missile rounds. Well, it is an insane suggestion. We are requiring a full missile capability from Messrs Aerospatiale, including the stock holding that I have indicated to you. So I don't know why Dr Young claims to be an expert in the costing of missiles. It is actually not his science.

But I am afraid, it is just simply untrue and unfounded." 

Richard Michael Moberly Young PrEng, MSc(Eng), PhD, in public testimony under oath, 28 August 2001 :

"In the bigger picture, Thomson-CSF, through an irregular acquisition process, obtained a major share of the Corvette supply contract, contrary to what was envisaged by Armscor and the SA Navy."  

"(Zuma's) efforts to pressure Parliament into dropping its investigation of the arms deal, and to exclude the Heath unit, can never be forgiven." -- Peter Bruce, Editor of Business Day, 2004-10-04

"In all of the instances mentioned..., Zuma neglected to accord equal treatment to any of the accuseds' business competitors or potential business competitors and to provide such competitors with opportunities to enjoy the benefits of Zuma's official sanction, equal to those provided to the accused." -- Advocate William John Downer SC, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in the National Prosecuting Authority and Lead Prosecutor in State vs Schabir Shaik and 10 Others, 23 September 2004

"The courts must therefore be easily accessible for victims of all types of serious crimes in our country to obtain justice, as well as for those accused of crimes to be able to prove their innocence, or for the state to prove their guilt, beyond reasonable doubt, in an open court." -- Zuma, in a speech prepared for delivery at the official opening of the new Port Elizabeth Magistrate's Court.  (Sapa by Ben Maclennan, 2004-10-07)

"The stage is set for the second act of Hamlet - without the prince. Act one was played out in Bloemfontein last year when Deputy President Jacob Zuma was the missing witness in the Hefer Commission inquiry."  -- The Mercury, 2004-10-06

"This investigation reminds me of Shakespeare's Macbeth when he said after a long soliloquy: 'It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."   -- Jacob Zuma, 15 August 2003
"This investigation is about some idiots, who at first were full of sound and fury, but later are saying nothing.'"   -- Richard Young, 01 October 2004

"He said he has to carry a jar of Vaseline because he gets ***** all the time, but that's okay because he gets what he wants and they get what they want." -- Bianca Singh, PA to Schabir Shaik at his trial in Durban. (Sapa by Jenni Evans, 2004-10-21)

"It seems that certain individuals are not satisfied with a single bout of empowerment. Instead, they are the beneficiaries of repeated bouts of re-empowerment." -- ANC Secretary_General Kgalema Motlanthe, on black economic empowerment.  (Sapa by Ben Maclennan, 2004-10-07)

"In a sense it is a very funny situation. Ask those who have a story to tell, I don't have a story to tell at this time." -- Deputy President Jacob Zuma on the looming trial of his financial adviser Schabir Shaik. (Sapa by Ben Maclennan, 2004-10-07)

"The stage is set for the second act of Hamlet - without the prince. Act one was played out in Bloemfontein last year when Deputy President Jacob Zuma was the missing witness in the Hefer Commission inquiry." -- The Mercury, 2004-10-06 

"It (the encypted fax) constitutes no more than an idle meandering that was never acted on and which was tossed in the bin". -- Alain Thetard, Chairman of African Defence Systems (Pty) Ltd at the time he bribed Deputy-President Jacob Zuma and later fugitive from arrest in the Republic of South Africa, in an affidavit before the Pietermaritzburg High Court on 24 August 2004.

Job vacant : National Director of Public Prosecutions.

Salary : Substantial.

Perks : Cute Scorpions baseball cap and the best spin doctor in town — Sipho Ngwema

Pitfalls : The directorate is an occasional snake pit. Must prosecute arms dealer Schabir Shaik from October, and in the process hang a political noose around a deputy president. Incumbent must also prosecute sundry MPs who have cheated on their travel vouchers.

Skills required :  A political player — you will walk a tight rope between trying to run an effective institution and keeping the ruling party happy. You must be a lawyer of standing with the ability to sail close to the wind. In addition to the headline-grabbing work, the job also requires an ability to beef up the rate of prosecutions across the criminal justice system, while cracking down on the many criminal syndicates that have taken root in South Africa.

Attributes : Nerves of steel. The last incumbent had to contend with a judicial commission of inquiry into allegations that he was an apartheid spy; Congress of South African Trade Union members baying for his blood at their national conference; and public claims by the African National Congress's secretary general that the investigation of the deputy president was "dirty tricks of a special type".

Job tips : Steer clear of alleged journalists named Mona and Munsamy, and of the extended Shaik family.

The rest :  All You Need to Know

(Mail & Guardian, 2004-07-29)

"Richard M. Young, CCII Systems. The United States Navy - Naval Sea Systems Command - Program Executive Office - Integrated Warfare Systems and Raytheon Company invite you to attend the "One Hundred Fiftieth Rolling AirFrame Missile Launcher Celebration"* to take place on 29 July 2004 @ 12:30, Louisville, Kentucky." (Invitation, 2004-07-12)

From the Anti-Corruption Conference, Institute of Security Studies : Shauket Fakie, 2004-03-16

Quotations

Best of All

In a strongly worded joint statement Ngcuka and Maduna accused Laurence Mushwana, the public protector, of taking part in an "orchestrated campaign" to discredit the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) through the investigation requested by Zuma. In his findings on Zuma's complaint, Mushwana found that Zuma's constitutional right to human dignity had been violated and that he had been "improperly prejudiced" by Ngcuka.

Reactions quoted from Ngcuka and Maduna :   (from the Mail & Guardian and the Sunday Independent, 2004-05-30)

Reactions quoted from the Public Protector :   (from News24 and the Sunday Independent, 2004-05-30)

*According to analysts, Zuma, the man at the centre of the report, can afford to smile as Mushwana's report vindicates him.


"It is not up to me or individuals to demand or claim that they are ready to take over. We are all deployed by the ANC." -- Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who said he would not demand a leadership position in Mbeki's new Cabinet. Zuma's reputation has been badly scarred by the arms deal scandal and allegations of his soliciting bribes.

"Certain government principles were flouted, proper signed minutes were not available, [there were] failures by members to recuse themselves and conflicts of interests; decisions were rushed through and corners were cut; certain policy and procurement procedures had so many holes, or were not followed, making it impossible to hold someone accountable" -- Auditor-General Shauket Fakie CA(SA) at the Institute of Security Studies Conference on Countering Corruption in Southern Africa held on 16th March 2004 in Gauteng.

--  Necessitating a repeat of previous quotes :

One comrade, one BMW; one comrade, one tender. Bugger the grassroots; scramble for the boardroom Tear off the T-shirt; put on the pin-stripes

Quick profit often blinds people to principle. The ruling party needs to get right out of business; its officials must choose between business and politics — they cannot have them both.

"The role of the public is to report corruption or any deviations from clean and accountable governance."
"People should not be passive. Our people must play a central role as we confront this scourge."

New expressions introduced into the English language by the Hefer proceedings

A selection of quotes from and about southern and South Africa published in the media during the week 27 November 2003. Sue Blaine, Sapa :

"Great intellectuals like .....Mo Shaik .....became the victims of this sinister campaign and quitted the UDW.
"It is greatly disturbing that these apartheid intelligence agents had created a network in the media with which they carried out their sinister campaign of destabilisation."

"Mr Mona, do you know what the truth is? Do you know what the whole truth is?"

"Please forgive me for laughing. I am not prejudging your evidence."

"I want to apologise unreservedly to Ngcuka, his family and to the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions for the pain the story caused. I still regard him as a man who can do his work."

"If you ask questions, it saves you the trouble of answering questions. I am trying it with you. It didn't work."

"My integrity is the only thing I have in life,"

"We ended half way down the street when a pair of IEC officials pulled us apart and threatened to turn us over to the cops unless we registered to vote. I instinctively opted for arrest but these poor officials were carrying on like a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses after finding out that their leader had just checked into a celestial protection programme and was denying everything."

"Their strategy was simple: 'throw as much dirt on them as you can, and hope some of it sticks'. But this has failed and will continue to fail, for it does not matter how deep the truth may be buried, it is never destroyed."

"Mrs Brereton's willingness to prepare an affidavit and testify to the commission seems to expose the Maharaj and Shaik travelling spy circus as an outfit of clowns."

"We are not saying the National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, was apartheid agent RS452."

"It's not a Zuma-Ngcuka saga - it's about law enforcement versus those who believe they are above the law."

"In time, all those who feel free to charge others in our ranks with having been agents of apartheid will have to answer for the charges they have made. The masses of our people will not forgive them for what they are trying to do, to undermine our country's movement forward… "

"No, our victimization is that we are now subjected to mob justice, the mob justice Patta, that you and members of the Fifth Column, by means of sleaze and slander and a tissue of lies have allowed and whipped up the public into a frenzy that now they bay for the blood of anybody. Not at all, and look, as a matter of fact, the media has played an important watchdog role. The media has kept the issue alive, it has given the issue publicity, except it has done so unfairly. It has accepted a tissue of lies from Richard Young and yet, on the other hand and as a matter of course, it has denigrated, humiliated, caricatured the Shaikh family to be a bunch of rogues..."

"The ANC will do whatever it takes to address the challenges facing Cosatu and to strengthen the affiliates,"

"Wen' ulawula amaScorpions s'tshele ukuthi uZuma wethu wenzeni Ngcuka, Ngcuka phendula uZuma wenzeni." Loosely translated, the song calls on national prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka to spell out Zuma's crime or leave him alone.

The writer concluded “The whole issue should never have been allowed to reach this destructive stage. It should have been cleared up years ago.” According to the writer, “Good damage control is part of good governance.”

“I think that the dice is already cast and I can see the numbers clearly, they clearly say: Shaik: scot-free.”

"Ironically, we hear ruling party spokespersons proclaiming that Mr Zuma has been 'exonerated' : It is quite simply the confusion of the century."

"Not so long ago in the Durban Magistrate's Court the respondents (the National Director of Public Prosecutions) made an unusually detailed charge sheet available for publication. The other side of the story has not been made public."

"I see no reason why I should protect possible offenders against their own folly."

"I am still waiting on an explanation about this curious chain of events."

"What a beauty, but can she fight?" 

"The reason that the Scorpions are hot on the heels of Schabir Shaik is that one company that lost the (Arms Deal) contract belongs to Richard Young. He has since lodged a case in the courts following his loss on the bid. According to the ANC, the source of the allegations surrounding the deputy president lies in Richard Young." "I see Richard Young.as the real source of the current saga." -- ANC Secretary-General, Kgalema Motlanthe, to Jimmy Seepe, editor of the City Press and published in the City Press, 30 August 2003, in an article entitled Agenda to 'Destroy Zuma Profile'. 

This investigation reminds me of Shakespeare's Macbeth when he said after a long soliloquy "... It is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

"It makes even the most frightening crime novel look tame, I cannot possibly see how Jacob Zuma can stay in office."

"watch this case carefully"

"For evil to prosper, good men must remain silent"

"since all black people came from the gutters, survival was no problem"

"They see him as vulnerable and do not expect a comeback. They think he has no political power,"

It stinks...its rotten to the core....this Government is corrupt...from top to bottom...!!!

The recent furore concerning our deputy president and the Scorpions would normally leave most of us rolling around laughing uncontrollably if it wasn't for the disturbing set of circumstances.

"Democracy without accountability is not much of a democracy at all," says Lewis. "The sad truth is that the most powerful, venal interests relatively easily manipulate whomever is in power, whether ... a repressive dictatorship or a democracy."

"Totally unacceptable and despicable."

"I wish to express my unqualified support for the principle that every accused person is entitled to a fair investigation, uncontaminated by ulterior motives on the part of the investigating authorities, a speedy conclusion of the investigation and a fair trial in open court and ensuring that justice prevails."

"I shall respond at my earliest convenience."

"There are few things we do not know."

"I haven't sought to get into the matter because one cannot help forming a judgement once you do. Presidents are ordinary people and if I decide who is correct, I might make a mistake."

"I can't see how my knowing the deputy president would have furthered my aims and ambitions, business-wise speaking."

"One time, I went to him trembling and said to him: 'It is unavoidable that you will be asked questions', and he said to me: 'Tell whoever wants to ask me questions to come and see me any time.'"

"We want to build a caring society. A caring society does not send its grandmothers to prison. People must not forget Madikizela-Mandela is a grandmother."

"If they are going to punish every ANC member who is guilty of corruption with a fine of R5 000, they might as well call it a fund-raising effort."

Ouch, ouch! Sam, the arms deal...?

"It is well known that corruption is the scourge that threatens the moral fibre of our society and which seriously undermines good governance."

"Corruption has no place in an open and democratic society and it must be rooted out."

"there was no possibility of contamination of the process"

"We are concerned that a past-time seems to be setting in, as President Mbeki put it recently, to 'fish for corrupt men'."

Merten : And the public tensions over, for example, Yengeni's reluctant resignation as MP?

Nhleko : "That's natural tension. The ANC is a political organisation; it has its own political culture. And then you have an institutional culture [of Parliament] that is not party political. From time to time you'll have these tensions, and it's healthy."

"I would like to advise those who find it politically and strategically expedient to perpetuate the negative stereotype of the African, which we inherited from our past, to take the greatest care that they do not start a fire they cannot put out. But we too, the Africans, share a similar responsibility not to start fires that we cannot put out."

The fishers of corrupt men are determined to prove everything in the anti-African stereotype. They rely on their capacity to produce long shadows and innumerable allegations around the effort of our government to supply the South African National Defence Force with the means to discharge its constitutional and continental obligations. They are confident that these long shadows and allegations without number will engulf and suffocate the forces that fought for and lead our process of democratisation, reconstruction and development.

The same stereotypical conviction about our government being corrupt, unless it proves itself innocent, has re-surfaced with regard to the defence procurement decided by our government in 2000. The fishermen (and women?) have recast their fishing nets, convinced that they will bring in a rich haul of corrupt government luminaries. So convinced are they of the outcome of their fishing expedition that they regularly describe the defence procurement as "the arms deal scandal" or "debacle". They say "a deepening shadow of allegations is threatening to engulf the highest reaches of government".

"The AG is free to accept or reject any comments made by those he has audited. This happens regularly, is required by law, and carries no imputation whatsoever of corrupt behaviour on the part of the AG,"

"All surveys indicate that police officers are the most vulnerable to corruption, followed by customs, local government, home affairs and court officials. The majority of those surveyed felt that government was not doing enough to combat corruption. However, this perception is not uniform across ethnic groups and is held mainly by specific communities," the report says.

"These latest revelations simply add another few pieces to the big story of the arms deal - which was about how people in high places used the deal to enrich themselves at the expense of the South African public. I have a growing confidence that the fuller extents of this truth will emerge in time."

"What did he say?"

"During the struggle days when things were hard and we had no money or nowhere to hide, you would turn to the Shaiks."
"The Shaik brothers made their presence felt by helping ANC returnees, setting up companies for them. The rock was set and payback came after 1994."

"You underestimate the anger of ordinary people about corruption in our country in general, and about the Yengeni matter in particular."

"Why is it that the ANC always closes ranks around the corrupt and the crooks? The ANC always sides with those who have transgressed and never seems to side with the honest people of our country,"

"It's time the South African public realised that some people in this parliament take the institution very seriously, and let us see how many,"

"What type of society are we, and what values do we embody when the presidential ceremonial entourage at the opening of Parliament resembles an identification parade at a criminal investigation?"

'The opening of parliament resembles an identification parade at a criminal investigation'
"They see at least four people brushing with the law or grabbing the limelight due to corruption charges and/or criminal investigation,"

 "Despite media speculation that the crime was connected to the arms deal, we all know it's not."

"The accused plucked the apple of privilege and favour and brought to parliament a smell of rotten apples,"

"The effect of corruption is to subvert the democratic process, undermining stability, justice and the sense of nation."

"Corruption is a deadly serious matter because it involves a betrayal of trust."

"The allegations are that there was a period when he does not appear to have paid for the car. Now Mr Yengeni has already said that he paid for the car from the first day. So really, the link with the arms deal is not there..."

"the continuing allegations and rumours linking him to corruption and bribery are ridiculous, malicious, insulting and defamatory"

"I don't think that this should be a scandal. I think that all over the world things have been, should be, like that."

"In applying for legal aid Tony Yengeni has once again demonstrated the extraordinary chutzpah that has become his trademark"

"The New National Part is racist, selective and opposed to black empowerment groups"

"There is only one person that (sic) is clean and that is God"

“The press in South Africa is still in the hands of the white minority ... When there’s a mistake they amplify it. They hardly ever focus on the good news.”

"My lips are sealed."

"Let us do everything in our power to ensure that we make real advances for the sake of the African woman"

"We shall defend our democratic order from rogues and continue to advance the interests of ordinary people trying to do good things with their lives," he promised.

"I've lost faith in black men. They're the greatest liars in the world."

"Look at what Bush is doing. He could invade."

"We must defeat the concept that service in local government means catching the last coach on the gravy train."

"I don't see where the problem is."

"Why don't you ask Bulelani [Ngcuka, the National Director of Public Prosecutions], how much he is costing the state with all the cases he is losing - instead of asking (Mr X) why he's flying his financial adviser to Malaysia and Dakar?"

"One day I am going to talk, and Bulelani will run back to his hole in the Eastern Cape."

"They lift up your wife's panties . . . my wife's panties . . . all very expensive panties. Now you tell me, what does that have to do with a defence contract?"

"It's like saying to a brother now that you are a businessman and I am the deputy president you are no longer my brother."

"It (the prosecution) has been a waste of time from day one."

"Local political fights were to blame"

"I am completely unaware of any such payments"

"The investigating team stands by the content of the report and stresses that there were no substantial changes to the content of the report tabled in Parliament in November 2001."

"Indeed their criticism in this regard smacks of racism".

"It is publicly known that the heads of these three agencies are black".

"At the base of all this, lies the racist conviction that Africans, who now govern our country, are naturally prone to corruption, venality and mismanagement".

``What do we say now? There's prima facie evidence. The investigation is going on. People have been charged. In terms of leadership, (we're) looking for the type of decisive leadership that can say `Sorry, we made a mistake', and I'm sure South Africans, with our good hearts and understanding and reasonableness, will accept that,'' she said.

"I told them they were being insensitive to the history of the country, that it was against the spirit of the constitution, because it reminds me of whites judging blacks. We know there is racism, whites thinking blacks driving a car are thieves or drug smugglers."

"If you cast doubt in the minds of the people about me, how can I go back to them and ask them to vote for the ANC? They will say you are corrupt, bribed by cars and money. The perception is being created that ANC leaders are corrupt, not trustworthy - that they are crooks. It's me today, but the attacks are going to move to other ANC leaders."

"The allegations about my car were raised many moons ago and I dismissed them as rubbish, and I stand by what I said." 

"I have very, very early on dismissed those allegations with the contempt it deserves ... and I still do dismiss them."

"Thomson-CSF reaffirms its strategic intention to have Black Empowerment Groups as co-shareholders of ADS"

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

"I'm no Nostradamus, but I predict our country will be worse off in this time of crisis if those of us of conscience don't rise to the occasion."

"Among a people generally corrupt, liberty cannot long exist."