‘Fixer’ could tell all about Zuma

The Arms Procurement Commission says it will try to obtain transcripts of arms deal fixer Ajay Sooklal’s arbitration in which he gave details of President Jacob Zuma’s alleged involvement and will assess whether to call him in as a witness.

This follows weekend reports on how the Thales representative lavished fancy clothes on Zuma, and paid for legal fees and hotel stays in Europe.

The Sunday Times published detailed allegations that Zuma accepted a R500 000-a-year bribe from Sooklal, a “fixer” for Thales, by using code words like “Eiffel Tower” to disguise the bribes.

The reports were based on transcripts of testimony given under oath before retired Judge Phillip Levinsohn at confidential arbitration hearings this year in a fee dispute between Sooklal and Thales.

The SA subsidiary of Thales, Thint, is one of the companies linked to the country’s arms-deal controversy and was awarded a multibillion-rand contract by the government.

In a letter to DA MP and defence spokesman David Maynier, the commission’s advocate, Fanyana Mdumbe, did not rule out any possibilities about Sooklal.

Maynier had written to Mdumbe on Monday saying the allegations “appear to originate from Mr Ajay Sooklal, who was reportedly employed for a period of six years by Thales”.

It would seem that Sooklal “may have personal knowledge of arms deal corruption and may be in a position to assist the Arms Procurement Commission. I would therefore like to confirm that you are aware of the allegations made by (Sooklal) and that you will consider summonsing him to give evidence before the Arms Procurement Commission”, wrote Maynier.

Mdumbe responded: “The commission will endeavour to obtain the transcript of the arbitration proceedings, peruse it and decide on the course of action to take.”

Maynier welcomed Mdumbe’s undertaking that the commission intended to scrutinise the transcripts “containing allegations of arms deal corruption involving President Jacob Zuma”.

“However, this does not necessarily mean that Mr Ajay Sooklal will be called as a witness by the Arms Procurement Commission,” he said.

“Bizarrely, the commission only seems interested in witnesses who have personal knowledge of arms deal corruption.”

Maynier said it appeared Sooklal “may well have personal knowledge of the alleged corruption” involving Zuma.

“However, if he does have personal knowledge of corruption involving President Jacob Zuma, he may try to invoke attorney-client privilege in order to avoid appearing before the Arms Procurement Commission,” said Maynier.