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Response to Auditor-General's Letter |
2002-01-21
The Auditor-General's letter in response to my request for access to information under the Promotion of Access to Information Act again shows his muddled and muddied thinking on this matter; that is if he or his advisors did indeed "apply our mind to it" at all.My request was specifically in respect of the audit files relevant to my complaints and allegations regarding the numerous irregularities concerning the Corvette Combat Suite as contained in the final Arms Deal Report, as well as the drafts of the report itself.
The AG has repeatedly stated, including in Parliament, that there were no substantial changes between the drafts of the Arms Deal Report and the published version. If this were true, there is no plausible reason within the tenets of the Open Democracy Act to withhold any of the drafts from someone who has a legitimate interest and right to such information held by a public body, moreso a body whose constitutional responsibility is to protect the interests of the public. It is absolutely clear to me that the AG has things to hide that was contained within these drafts, things very serious to hide indeed.
The AG has also lumped all the requested information together and applied all his three reasons for non-access to all of the requested information. This is plainly pathetic for someone who has the resources to consult with the most expensive legal opinion available in this country.
His reason that the work to vet the documentation that he has in his audit files would be too great for the Office of the Auditor-General is both ludicrous and unacceptable.
The reason that certain information was provided in confidence may apply to certain affidavits obtained under the National Prosecuting Authority Act, however it cannot possibly apply to each and every document in the AG's obviously enormous set of files relevant to my complaint.
Similarly, his third reason that providing certain ultra-sensitive documents may jeopardise the defence of the Republic is clutching at straws. I cannot for a moment imagine that there can be many of these documents that truly may lead to the outbreak of hostilities, the severing of diplomatic relations or possible fatalities.
The AG clearly has something to hide by refusing access to the requested documents. As he was not personally involved in the Arms Deal itself, could this be that he is protecting third parties? As Joe Modise is dead and it is clear that Fakie himself, as well as the Minister of Defence, along with the Scorpions, are well and truly after the "small fish" in the likes of the brothers Shaikh and Tony Yengeni, could these be the "big fish"? Who could these big fish be?