Terry Crawford-Browne's letter to President Jacob Zuma on the arms deal May 14 2009
President Jacob Zuma
Tuinhuis
Cape Town
Dear Mr President
The Arms Deal
In the spirit of reconciliation and goodwill evident in your inaugural address, may I congratulate you on your election as president of our country? Secondly, may I express the hope that the arms deal scandal will not become one of the defining issues of your presidency?
More than ten years have now elapsed since the arms deal scandal first erupted. Civil society leaders including Anglican Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane, back in 1998 and 1999, repeatedly pleaded with government ministers to take seriously the allegations that foreign armaments companies, including BAE, were bribing South Africans to secure contracts. Had those concerns been heeded, our country could have avoided the severe strains that the arms deal has inflicted upon our constitutional democracy.
As the Anglican Church's representative at the 1996-1998 Defence Review conducted in Parliament, I learned then of some of the corruption associated with the arms deal. I also requested the British government to investigate the allegations against BAE, and the London Metropolitan Police were appointed to that task. The British response was that it was (then) not illegal under British law to bribe foreigners. Foreigners were "fair game", especially in promoting British arms exports. That was also true in Germany where bribes were even tax deductible as a business expense.
A former British Secretary for Trade and Industry, Ms Patricia Hewitt, admitted that commissions (for which read "bribes") had been paid to secure BAE's contracts with South Africa which, she pleaded, "were within reasonable limits." British investigators have since established those "reasonable limits" as £112 million (R1.4 billion). Irrespective of whether it was legal in Britain to bribe foreigners, it has long been illegal in South Africa to accept bribes.
The economically absurd proposition was advanced that expenditure of R30 billion on armaments would generate R110 billion in offsets, and thus create over 65 000 jobs. British government officials were seconded to the Department of Trade and Industry to ensure attainment of the offsets, despite the reality that offsets are internationally discredited because of their unenforceability and propensity for corruption. Most importantly, offsets are irreconcilable with section 217 (1) of the Constitution that requires government procurements to be conducted "in accordance with a system which is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective."
BAE's widespread use of bribes to secure contracts is now under investigation by authorities in eight countries, plus the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) last year detained BAE executives as they transited American airports, wanting to know why BAE with collusion of the British defence department had been laundering bribes through the American banking system. The British government has blocked investigation of BAE bribes on Saudi Arabian contracts under the spurious excuse of "national security," but this international scandal is still gathering momentum.
Accordingly, I am writing to petition that you appoint a judicial investigation into the arms deal in terms of section 84 (2)(f) of the Constitution.
The Joint Investigation Team report into the Strategic Armaments Package (JIT Report) confirms that every contract of the arms deal was severely flawed by tendering irregularities. Chapter four dealing with BAE is most especially revealing. The affordability study advised cabinet ministers in August 1999 that the arms deal was a highly risky proposition that could lead the government into mounting economic, fiscal and financial difficulties. Regrettably, those warnings were also recklessly ignored. The present international financial crisis was foreseen, but now underlines the urgent need for South Africa to mitigate the problems into which the arms deal has led our country.
In addition, I am in possession of the Barclays Bank loan agreements which give effect to the BAE Hawk and BAE/Saab Gripen fighter aircraft contracts. These documents have been verified in court as authentic but, in violation of section 71 of the Public Finance Management Act, have never been referred to the National Assembly for approval.
There is an action pending in the Western Cape High Court (Case no 1135/2009) because your immediate predecessor refused, without good reason, to appoint a commission of inquiry as petitioned by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former President FW de Klerk on 1 December 2008. It is being litigated in my name in the public interest. The stench of corruption will continue to impede the proper administration of the country, service delivery and attainment of a better life for all until the arms deal is thoroughly redressed. Every political formation including ANC alliance partners, the churches, civil society organisations and business leaders all support such an inquiry.
The need for litigation against you in a representative capacity as President of South Africa would fall away, should you agree to appoint a judicial commission of inquiry with terms of reference upon which you decide. European governments are notorious for their use of armaments companies as instruments to unleash corruption in Africa and Asia, and thus to subvert our young democracies. Might I be bold to suggest that the commission should focus upon how South Africa was pressured into the arms deal by foreign governments rather than to be seen as a political witch-hunt? Even at this late stage, massive savings on the arms deal contracts can still be gained to fund the socio-economic needs of which you are aware.
The country has not and will not allow the arms deal scandal to evaporate. It will continue to haunt our constitutional democracy because the purchase of armaments was prioritised before poverty eradication and social upliftment. May I respectfully suggest that you review the documents filed of record filed in the pending action, and respond to this request as soon as you are able?
Yours sincerely
Terry Crawford-Browne
Copy: Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
Crawford-Browne's follow up letter to President Jacob Zuma May 27 2009
Dear Mr President
The Arms Deal
I refer to my letter dated 14 May, a copy of which is attached for your ease of reference. In deference to your office, I am hesitant to release the letter to the media. Nonetheless, as noted on page 2, the affordability study advised cabinet ministers back in August 1999 that the arms deal was a highly risky proposition that could lead the government into mounting economic, fiscal and financial difficulties.
Those warnings were recklessly ignored and, consequently, your presidency has unnecessarily inherited a constitutional crisis that now also seriously threatens our national security. The world economic recession may well prove even worse than the depression of the 1930s. Given your renewed public commitments regarding corruption combined with the gravity and the impact that the arms deal scandal continues to hold on South Africa, may I respectfully request a reply as a matter of urgency?
Yours sincerely
Terry Crawford-Browne
Copy: Archbishop Thabo Makgoba
Issued by ECAAR South Africa
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