Chantelle Benjamin
13 January 2009
Johannesburg — PRESIDENT Kgalema Motlanthe will not be appointing a commission of inquiry into the arms deal despite the threat of a lawsuit for allegedly violating the constitution and yesterday's Supreme Court of Appeal judgment, his office said.
Advocate Paul Hoffman said the president had until Friday to formally reject a demand for a commission to be instated immediately, after which Hoffman would begin legal proceedings against the president.
Motlanthe's spokesman, Thabo Masebe, said yesterday the president stood by the argument he furnished when he rejected a request last month by Nobel peace laureates FW de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu for a commission of inquiry, namely that he did not believe a commission would be an appropriate tool to investigate alleged criminal activities in the arms deal.
Hoffman, who has been appointed to represent retired banker and arms activist Terry Crawford-Browne, said yesterday this argument was not valid.
"A properly constituted commission would have the power to ask the African National Congress (ANC) to make available its records on donations received since 1999, which would resolve once and for all the question of whether the ANC profited from the arms deal."
According to an investigation by the British Serious Fraud Office, more than £100m was secretly paid by the arms company BAE in bribes in order to secure the right to supply warplanes. That investigation prompted raids on various businesses in SA in November.
Motlanthe has also argued that there was an investigation already under way into the arms deal, but Crawford-Browne in his letter of demand sent last week to the president, said there is at present no body equipped to conduct an investigation of this kind.
"The Directorate of Special Operations (DSO) is in the process of being disbanded and there is no adequate substitute in its place," said Crawford-Browne. "We have no chief of police, as Jackie Selebi is facing corruption charges, no national director of public prosecutions, as Vusi Pikoli is in the process of possibly being dismissed after being suspended for a year."
He went on to say: "The acting national director of public prosecution is emasculated by the disbandment of the DSO and by the political pressure brought to bear on him ... and the South African Police Service has neither the capacity nor the will to investigate the high level of corruption at issue in relation to the arms deal."
Crawford-Browne believes it is vital that an investigation be resolved as soon as possible so the millions of rands already paid to arms suppliers can be refunded.
The Supreme Court of Appeal judgment could see the reinstatement of charges against Zuma and the case being taken to the Constitutional Court, which will mean further delays to the possible cancellation of the arms deal and the refund of money.
Masebe's comments yesterday indicate that the president is not likely to change his mind before Friday: "The position put forward by the president last month has not changed, and is not likely to change," he said.
Crawford-Browne threatened to take legal action if the president did not appoint a judicial commission by Friday and publicly announce his intention to do so at the opening of Parliament, arguing that the president had a constitutional obligation to conduct himself "reasonably and accountably, or even rationally".
By refusing to consider a commission of inquiry, Motlanthe was putting the interests of the ANC -- which stands accused of benefiting from the arms deal -- "before those of the country", said Crawford-Browne.
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