As the SAS Mendi sails into South Africa's territorial waters, reminding taxpayers of the billions Government is spending on the arms deal, Government is set to launch a new Defence Review in Parliament. Whilst this Review is set to reopen broader questions on overall Defence spending, it will also raise crucial questions around value-for-money in Defence spending beyond the controversial arms deal. *

The DA will table further questions regarding ARMSCOR's ongoing relationship with African Defence Systems, in which the financial advisor of the Deputy President Jacob Zuma, Mr. Schabir Shaik, has a significant interest. **

The DA will also closely interrogate an audit report on alleged irregular dealings between ADS, Thales and ARMSCOR - to be tabled by the Auditor General in Parliament. ***

Mr. Schabir Shaik, director of Nkobi Holdings must not only explain the ADS and Thales' dealings regarding the Corvette combat suite, which took place under allegedly dubious circumstances, but also the millions of Rands spent by ARMSCOR for alleged substandard service rendered to the South African Air Force (SAAF).

The possibility that the ARMSCOR contract with ADS (and therefore their French partner Thales) for the SAAF may have enriched ADS and assisted it in financing and bidding for the Corvette combat suite must also be investigated.

Of even greater concern is the allegation that ADS and Thales (then Thomson CSF) were working on Operation Cocro whilst an arms embargo was still effectively in place. Government should probe this carefully, while ARMSCOR must release the results of their own internal investigation into this matter and the allegations leveled by Mr. Fritz Louw.

The procurement policy behind ARMSCOR'S award of a tender to ADS for the SAAF, along with the role-players involved in awarding the tender, also needs to be investigated given the prominent role played by Mr. Schabir Shaik's brother, Mr. Chippy Shaik, within ARMSCOR's procurement machinery. ****

With acknowledgement to the Democratic Alliance.

* The acquisition of the Surface-to-Surface Missile (SSM) appears highly questionable. as the value of this acquisition is between R400 and R700 million and appears not to be funded out of the SDPs, it should be investigated.

** The SSM acquisition is also important because it effectively allow Thales and ADS to inflate their price for the Corvette Combat Suite by about R700 million. This in turn would have advantaged Shaikh and Zuma.

It is alleged by the Directorate for Special Operations (DSO) in a court document that the ANC is a occult shareholder in ADS, through a company called Floryn Investments (Pty) Ltd and therefore a beneficiary of the Arms Deal.

The ANC's partner in Government, COSATU, through a organisation called The Workers' College, is another shareholder in ADS and therefore also beneficiary of the Arms Deal.

It is also alleged by the Directorate for Special Operations (DSO) in a court document that Deputy President Zuma is another occult shareholder in ADS, probably through a company called Clanwest Investments (Pty) Ltd and therefore a beneficiary of the Arms Deal.

*** ADS has been up to these tricks since the early 1980s.

**** The whole issue of the SA Army's Ground Based Air Defence System (GBADS), which has recently been contracted to a value of several hundred million Rand with a growth to upwards of R4 billion, also needs to be investigated. ADS is doing the command and control element of GBADS while another Thales subsidiary, Thales Air Defence (ex Shorts Brothers) of Belfast, Northern Ireland) is providing the Surface-to-Air Missiles for GBADS.

Cocro is important in the whole ADS question of insider dealing, corruption and contractual irregularities, but it is small cheese relative to the Corvette Combat Suite, Corvette SSM and GBADS.