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South Africa: Parties Oppose Arms Deal Amnesty
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Business Day (Johannesburg)
26 March 2008
Posted to the web 26 March 2008
Hajra Omarjee
Johannesburg
OPPOSITION parties have come out against any suggestion of amnesty for arms deal offenders linked to SA's controversial multibillion-rand weapons deal.
The idea was mooted by arms deal critic and former African National Congress (ANC) MP Andrew Feinstein this month. He said that instead of facing criminal charges, offenders should "return ill- gotten gains" and be disqualified from public office.
The suggestion came amid growing pressure from inside the ANC for President Thabo Mbeki to come clean about his involvement in the arms deal. Though Mbeki was officially tasked with overseeing the procurement process when he was deputy president, he has never been investigated. Instead, newly elected ANC president Jacob Zuma is facing charges of corruption over the deal after the conviction of his former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) said yesterday that the notion of amnesty would have serious consequences.
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"We believe that such an amnesty for a few of the ANC elite would be tantamount to condoning theft from the South African public, and would set an appalling precedent, allowing unscrupulous politicians to proclaim amnesty for themselves in the future before leaving office," said the DA's arms deals spokesman, Eddie Trent.
The Independent Democrats (ID) said it would consider "private prosecution" if the amnesty went ahead." They are crooks, not freedom fighters," said ID leader Patricia de Lille.
The Freedom Front Plus said amnesty for arms deal offenders would be unfair to ANC national executive committee member Toni Yengeni and S haik, who have been convicted for offences related to the deal.
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