Arms Deals Case
The hawks won't fly
Unlike the bigger fish who threaten interdicts, claims for damages for defamation and other dire litigious consequences when they are confronted with allegations of corruption in the arms deals, Shaik ventures no more than a meek "no comment". Nobody has ever been sued for alleging corruption in the arms deals, nor is this likely to happen as the legal defence of "truth and public interest" will have the effect of opening the whole can of worms.The naive demand by the DA Defence spokesman, David Maynier, that the hawks should be unleashed on the arms deal is not going to meet with any success. The dissolution of the scorpions has seen to it that there is no independent investigative unit with the necessary capacity to carry out any investigation which will touch the vital interests of the highest echelons of some of those in power (past and present). The hawks are safely under the control of a politician in the governing alliance, the Minister of Police.
Open letter to President Kgalema Motlanthe petitioning for a judicial commission of inquiry into the Arms Deals.
By Archbishop Tutu and Former President F.W. de Klerk (1st December 2008)
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Arms Deals case to compel the appointment of a judicial commission of inquiry into the arms deals:
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Foreign Investigations of wrongdoing in relation to the arms deals
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Simelane and the slippery slope
Attending a Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) hearing is a bit like watching paint dry; until it bursts into flames.Last Friday morning it was the turn of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to explain its accounts.
Led by the Director General (DG) of the Department of Justice and her predecessor, National Director of Public Prosecutions, Menzi Simelane, who were available to provide the necessary answers.
It quickly becomes apparent that all is not well with the accounts under scrutiny. There is a so called "irregular committee" in existence within the NPA tasked with investigating the irregular expenditure incurred in the year under review. Nobody on it is present.
And then, quite suddenly, the drying paint explodes. Mark Steele, DA member of SCOPA, reminds the public servants present that on the last occasion that they were interrogated by SCOPA there was an indication that investigations into possible corruption in the arms deals were "proceeding".
Letter about "The Arms Deal" to SCOPA chairman Themba Godi
In keeping with the 1995 Defence White Paper, the stance of the Church was that poverty was the critical security issue facing South Africa, and that eradication of poverty required priority over the purchase of armaments. It was conceded even by the military establishment that there was no conceivable foreign military threat to South Africa to justify massive weapons purchases. Therefore, arms industry lobbyists concocted the economically-absurd proposition that expenditure of R30 billion would generate R110 billion in offsets to create over 65 000 jobs and thus would stimulate the economy.Offsets are internationally notorious for corruption, and that promised benefits rarely materialise. Corruption is nothing less than theft from the poor. It is well established that corruption undermines the legitimacy of democracy in countries such as South Africa.
The international armaments industry is well documented to be the world's most corrupt business, with no compunction about instigating wars in "third world" countries in the pursuit of profit. Bribery of politicians is standard practice in the armaments industry, albeit that BAE (previously known as British Aerospace) is most especially venal.
Offsets are internationally notorious as a scam developed by the armaments industry - but especially by BAE - to gain political support for weapons expenditure and armaments proliferation. They plainly violate section 217 (1) of the Constitution, which requires government procurements to be conducted "in accordance with a system which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective."
The arms deal was not only the "original sin" that unleashed a culture of corruption in South Africa. It is also, in the description by Idasa, the "litmus test of South Africa's commitment to democracy and good governance."
SCOPA's mandate and responsibility is to ensure that taxpayers receive value for money. The submarines and frigates (mistakenly described as corvettes) lying idle in Simon's Town harbour illustrate how public resources were squandered on warships that the country did not need and could not afford. The SA Navy now complains that it cannot afford even to fuel these vessels. Some R10 billion was wasted that more appropriately should have been spent on housing, education or health services.
The BAE Hawk and BAE/Saab Gripen fighter aircraft contracts constituted more than half of the cost of the arms deal. Only seven of 28 Gripen aircraft have so far been delivered. It is public knowledge that the SA Air Force lacks the pilots to fly these aircraft, the mechanics to maintain them and even the money to fuel them. The cost of fuel per hour is alone estimated at US$5 000 (R37 500).
A Civil Solution to the ARMS DEALS CORRUPTION Conundrum
There was a flurry in the parliamentary standing committee on public accounts (SCOPA) dovecote last week when the SAPS top brass in the form of head of the Hawks, Anwar Dramat, asked whether it would be "in the national interest" to pursue further investigations into the arms deals.Dramat's question went unanswered. By asking it he betrayed a worrisome ignorance of the separation of powers and of the independence of the prosecuting authority.
Johan du Plooy, a former Scorpion, is the only member of the Hawks currently assigned to the investigation of the arms deals. As the stakes are so high, this is evidence of a lack of will to bring to bear the necessary skills and capacity to get to the bottom of the allegations of corruption.
One thing is certain - the Hawks have neither the sapiential authority nor the stomach for the investigation.
Gothenburg Process IV - a global perspective
Over the last 4 days of October 2010 a remarkable conference was held in London at the Swedish church there. Attended by delegates from all continents the focus of attention was the proliferation of conventional armaments around the world in recent years and the impact of this upon the prospects of achieving world peace.A South African perspective on Gothenburg IV
During the last week of October 2010 a conference organised by four Swedish based organisations which support faith based advocacy for disarmament was held in London under the title "Gothenburg Process IV". The arms trade came under critical scrutiny from a variety of participants drawn from faith based organizations, the NGO sector and academia.After the Swedes, the South African delegation to the conference was the largest. Rightly so. Three South Africans made presentations during the conference. Joseph Dube of IANSA, Len Hansen of the Beyers Naude Centre for Public Theology at Stellenbosch University and Andrew Feinstein, the former ANC MP.
Reaping what is sown - South African arms deal
It is certainly so that the South African arms deal has unleashed a culture of corruption with impunity in the most recently liberated corner of Africa. Despite ample evidence of corruption in all facets of the deal the prosecuting authorities in the countries involved, with the exception of Sweden, have displayed little appetite for exacting accountability and holding those responsible for the corruption criminally liable for their actions.The corruption exposed by Feinstein both at the conference and in his book "After the Party" affords a solid basis for cancelling the arms deals. This implies a return of all of the arms thus far delivered to the manufacturers and the refund of all money paid for them. Ironically, this includes the bribes, which formed part of the purchase consideration negotiated. The fraud and corruption escape clauses in the contracts also make provision for the payment of damages in the event of wrongdoing being proved.
The genie is out of the bottle - South African arms deal
Since 30 September 2010, when the Hawks officially closed their investigations into criminality in the arms deals concluded by South Africa with various arms dealers based in Europe, there have been some developments which are good cause for hope for those who long to see constitutional democracy under the rule of law flourish in post-apartheid South Africa.Section 217 of the Constitution sets out the requirements for procurement by the state, this includes purchase of armaments. It demands a system which is "fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective". The arms deals are arguably none of these.
Arms Deals case: Crawford-Browne vs The State
The application before The Constitutional Court, by Terence Crawford-Browne, regarding the Arms Deals case.- download >
Round Table on Business Accountability and Corruption
P-R-E-S-S R-E-L-E-A-S-E
11 March 2011Experts from various European and African countries met this week at the Theodor Heuss Academy near Cologne, Germany. They discussed combating illegal business practices.
The arms deals - coming home to roost
On 12 November 2008 the Social Justice Coalition (SJC) held a protest meeting in St George's Cathedral in Cape Town. The theme of the evening was its demand for the appointment of a commission of inquiry into the arms deals.The commission of inquiry would not be forthcoming voluntarily. Over the years every political party other than the ANC, many NGOs, trade unions and the churches have called for an inquiry, all to no avail.
It was therefore decided to litigate the matter. In our constitutional democracy, the decision to appoint a commission of inquiry is that of the President and him alone. In his capacity as Head of State, he has to act reasonably, without capriciousness or arbitrariness, in good faith and rationally - in accountably and responsively coming to a decision on whether or not to appoint a commission of inquiry.
The claim for an order compelling the appointment of a commission of inquiry into possible wrongdoing in the procurement of arms in the 1999 arms deals will be heard by the Constitutional Court on 5 May 2011. The President is opposing the matter.
Open letter to Vas Soni SC
Open letter to Vas Soni SC who has been appointed as chief evidence leader in the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into wrongdoing in the procurement of armaments for the new South Africa.Andrew Feinstein and the BAE Deals
Andrew Feinstein exposes the corruption surrounding BAE's controversial £1bn sale of fighter jets to South Africa. Feinstein is a former ANC MP who resigned after South Africa's President stopped Parliament's investigation of the deal. Andrew's speech delivered at Campaign Against Arms Trade's 2009 National Gathering.ECAAR-SA Annual Report
By: Terry Crawford-Browne
After 15 years since the 1996-1998 parliamentary Defence Review, I have finally on 17 November 2011 succeeded in South Africa's Constitutional Court in forcing President Jacob Zuma to appoint a judicial commission of inquiry into the "arms deal."
The history goes back to South Africa's transition to democracy in 1994 when European politicians flocked here to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela and our new democracy with one hand, and to peddle weapons with the other.
In collusion with state-owned Armscor and the Department of Trade and Industry, European arms companies created the absurd rationale that R30 billion (US$5 billion) spent on warships and warplanes would generate R110 billion (US$18 billion) in offsets that would create over 65 000 jobs and thus stimulate post-apartheid South Africa's economic development.
