DA to submit PAIA application for BAE/Saab arms deal documents
The Democratic Alliance (DA) will submit a request, in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (No. 2 of 2000), to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) for access to two reports related to BAE/Saab's compliance with offset obligations under the National Industrial Participation Programme (NIPP).
In terms of the strategic defence package, signed on 03 December 1999, BAE/Saab incurred an offset obligation under NIPP. The NIPP programme, administered by the DTI, requires any state purchase, in excess of US$ 10 million, from firms selling foreign products, to effectively reinvest in South Africa.
BAE/Saab, who supplied the 24 Hawk and 26 Gripen fighter jets, were obliged, in terms of the contract, to reinvest a total of US $ 7.2 billion in South Africa by 2011.
The DTI is responsible for monitoring the NIPP. However, the department's reports are at best obscure, not least because company names do not appear in the annual report, making it difficult to determine if BAE/Saab were complying with their obligations under the NIPP.
However, two reports commissioned by the DTI suggest that there were problems relating to BAE/Saab's compliance with the NIPP.
A report, prepared by SAB&T Chartered Accountants, relating to BAE/Saab's involvement in a defence department demilitarization project, found that "government was not getting optimal value". Another report, prepared by NAD Auditors, relating to BAE/Saab's involvement in Denel Saab Aerostructures, suggests that there was a failure to meet "key performance areas".