DA to make SCOPA submissions on arms deal, and demand new investigation.
Tomorrow, the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) will meet for the tabling of new Arms Deal related submissions. SCOPA has always maintained that any new information brought forward will be considered on its merits, and we believe that the submissions presented in tomorrow's session will provide a compelling new case for the reopening of investigations into the Arms Deal.
SCOPA has in the past committed to reconsidering an independent investigation into the Arms Deal when "new evidence [is] brought to light". This resolution was confirmed at paragraph 6 of the minutes of the SCOPA committee meeting, dated 29 January 2008. In order to set about obtaining and compiling new information, I invited members of the public to make submissions to SCOPA on November 12th of last year, and we have subsequently received wide-ranging and impressive testimony from many of the individuals most intricately involved in the Arms Deal.
Tomorrow I look forward to addressing several critical matters that any reasonable person will view as constituting new evidence and remain completely unresolved at present. These include:
- Various allegations of corruption which have emerged from and during the UK Serious Fraud Office's investigation into the more than £110m commission paid by BAE Systems, of which more than £75m is believed to have been transferred to South African beneficiaries through a network of BAE front companies in the British Virgin Islands.
- Documentary evidence that the SANDF's former head of procurement lied to SCOPA, and has received $3m from a successful bidder in the Arms Deal. To date, no action at all has been taken against this individual.
- Affidavits recently submitted by prosecutors that reveal new information on the mechanisms used to pay bribes, and which led to raids on the premises of Mr Fana Hlongwane and Mr John Bredenkamp.
- Unresolved anomalies concerning possible irregularities during the production of the Joint Investigation Report.
These and a range of other critical issues are raised in the submissions which will be presented before SCOPA tomorrow. As these are clearly matters of the utmost urgency, we trust that the ANC members of SCOPA will be present at the meeting, so that the documents can be tabled and discussed. Delaying-tactics have already cost the committee weeks of valuable time, and it is now crucial that all parties commit to considering a matter that is manifestly of great public concern.
Statement issued by Eddie Trent, MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on the arms deal, February 3 2009
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