Programme News
29 September 2014
(News)
Former ANC parliamentarian turned arms activist Andrew Feinstein understands now why President Jacob Zuma kept encouraging him to investigate the arms deal during his time on Standing Committee on Public Accounts (Scopa) in 2000.
It was the oddest part of the situation for Feinstein, an idealistic MP at the time, who was put in a tough spot with the allegations. While senior ANC figures begged or...
29 September 2014
(Press release)
More than 30 local social justice organisations have issued the following joint call for real Arms Deal accountability:
The 1999 Arms Deal represents up to R70 billion that should have been spent on housing, education, health and South Africa’s other pressing social needs. The Arms Deal corrupted our politics, weakened state institutions, and undermined our democracy. And despite mounting...
16 September 2014
(News)
Arms deal critics Hennie Van Vuuren, Andrew Feinstein and Paul Holden, who withdrew in protest from appearing as witnesses are being subpoenaed to appear before the Arms Procurement Commission.
The three activists announced they were withdrawing their participation in August, as they said the commission was failing to fully investigate the arms deal “without fear and favour.”
A...
4 September 2014
(News)
The arms deal commission says it will issue subpoenas to the three witnesses who recently quit the inquiry.
The Seriti commission of inquiry will issue subpoenas to the three arms deal critics who withdrew from participation, it said on Wednesday.
“The chairperson indicated yesterday [on Tuesday] that the commission will issue subpoenas to the three witnesses,” spokesperson William...
4 September 2014
(News)
Judging by the tenor of events at the arms deal commission on Wednesday, Joe Modise’s family has longed to confront his accusers for some time. On Wednesday, Judge Willie Seriti granted the deceased minister’s wife, Jackie Sedibe, and one of his daughters an opportunity to do just that.
The only problem was that Modise’s accuser, former Inkatha Freedom Party MP Gavin Woods, was...
29 August 2014
(News)
Three prominent critics of South Africa’s multibillion-rand arms deal have withdrawn their names from the Seriti commission witness list, saying the inquiry is "no longer salvageable" and is being used to discredit crucial witnesses to endorse the state’s version of events.
Former African National Congress (ANC) MP Andrew Feinstein, with arms deal critics Hennie van Vuuren...
29 August 2014
(News)
The Seriti Commission of Inquiry is considering the decision by three arms deal critics to withdraw from all proceedings, it said on Thursday.
“It appears to the Commission that these witnesses do not have evidence to put before it and want the commission to help them search for possible proof for the allegations of wrongdoing in the arms procurement process,” spokesman William Baloyi...
28 August 2014
(News)
Three arms deal critics and phase two witnesses, Andrew Feinstein, Hennie Van Vuuren and Paul Holden, have pulled out of the arms deal commission, citing “fatal concerns” with the way the commission has been run.
The three, represented at the commission by Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR), announced their decision on Thursday.
In making the announcement, the three also said they have...
28 August 2014
(Press release)
The Arms Deal was a uniquely damaging moment in our young democratic history. It was concluded after decades of uncontrolled spending on foreign and internal wars by the apartheid regime. From the signing of the contracts in 1999 up to R70 billion of public money continues to be spent on weapons of questionable utility. The country was not and is not facing any meaningful military threat....
28 August 2014
(Press release)
Andrew Feinstein, Paul Holden and Hennie van Vuuren, witnesses whom Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) has been representing before the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the 1999 Arms Deal, on Thursday announced they would no longer participate in the Commission and instructed LHR to withdraw from proceedings on their behalf. A letter detailing their decision was delivered to the Commission....