The head of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Adv. Mendi Simelane today admitted to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) that the entire arms deal investigation had been handed over to the SAPS and specifically the Hawks headed by Anwar Dramat.

This transfer of responsibility is part of a pattern of delaying tactics by the ANC.  Ultimately, we continue to believe that only an independent judicial inquiry will fully expose the extent of the arms deal corruption.

In documents submitted to Scopa in Jan 2009 the NPA confirmed that there were on-going investigations together with the UK Serious Fraud Office into allegations that BAE Systems paid substantial amounts to South African recipients to secure the Hawk/Gripen aircraft contract.

We believe Anwar Dramat together with Adv Simelane must, as a matter of urgency, appear before Scopa to explain what progress has been made since the handover of the investigation and the 2009 report to Scopa.

Clearly the NPA has no appetite for this investigation, and the issues now become whether the Hawks have the capacity and the will to pursue the investigation with the necessary energy and commitment.

Statement issued by Mark Steele, MP, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on public accounts, May 14 2010

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