Programme News
11 August 2014
(News)
Given a global platform to explain the successes of the ANC and his government, President Jacob Zuma took his chance at the National Press Club in Washington DC last week. He boasted South Africa’s fifth peace democratic elections, pointed to the rise in middle income earners, and the expansion of foreign companies entering South Africa. Inflation’s been tamed; the Johannesburg Stock...
8 August 2014
(News)
Two advocates who quit as evidence leaders of the arms deal commission two weeks ago have given a damning insight into the inner workings of the investigation.
The 15-page joint letter of resignation by advocates Barry Skinner SC and Carol Sibiya seems to back the view of most critics that the commission is nothing but a cover-up of corruption in the multibillion-rand deal.
Skinner and Sibiya say...
7 August 2014
(News)
That Parliament approved of the arms deal is a line that has been repeated over and over by government witnesses testifying at the Seriti commission of inquiry into the deal. But it is an assertion that is disputed, and that dispute might be formally put to the commission on Thursday in Pretoria.
At the heart of this dispute will be the testimony of Raenette Taljaard, a former parliamentarian for...
31 July 2014
(News)
ANALYSIS: A recurring line from those trying to dismiss allegations of corruption in the Arms Deal is: “Show us the evidence.”
During his testimony at the Seriti Commission two weeks ago, former president Mbeki took an opportunity to lash out at critics, saying: “For all of these years we have been saying, let this evidence be produced so that action can be taken.”...
21 July 2014
(News)
Phase two of the arms procurement commission’s public hearings will start on Monday. Now, the commission will deal with the second leg of its terms of reference: allegations of fraud and corruption. It has called a number of authors, arms deal critics and activists, to present evidence.
Richard Young will be this phase’s first witness. Besides being the first of the so-called “...
19 July 2014
(News)
The purchasing of the Gripen and Hawk fighter jets during the 1999 arms deal remains sullied with allegations of bribery and rigged tender processes. It has been the subject of international and local investigations.
On Friday, former president Thabo Mbeki said he knew nothing about the controversy. Mbeki also denied any knowledge of an investigation by the US into the purchasing of fighter...
19 July 2014
(News)
Former president Thabo Mbeki was asked to tell the Seriti Commission of Inquiry on Friday how his administration justified spending billions on the arms deal but not on antiretrovirals (ARVs) in 1999.
“It is wrong to only discuss the costs when talking about HIV/Aids, look at government policy,” he told the commission sitting in Pretoria.
“I don't know if this is part...
19 July 2014
(News)
Former president Thabo Mbeki’s handling of anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment for HIV patients has been questioned at the arms deal inquiry.
He was testifying at the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into alleged fraud and corruption in the multibillion rand procurement deal.
Mbeki’s record on HIV and Aids has long been controversial, particularly due to the time it took government to...
17 July 2014
(News)
“First of all one has to ask the question: is he complicit? My answer [is stated] clearly in my book and in the statements that I have made subsequently, I would suggest yes.” – Andrew Feinstein.
It is probably not an unfair assumption that, in 1999 when the arms deal was signed under his watch, it would have been unthinkable to then-president Thabo Mbeki that he would be...
7 July 2014
(News)
During phase two of the arms deal public hearings, who makes the allegations will prove to be just as important as the allegations themselves.
Intentionally or not, starting phase two of the Arms Procurement Commission’s inquiry on July 21 with evidence by the so-called “critics” of the arms deal will set them up as complainants in the matter.
Phase two will deal with...