Programme News
23 April 2014
(News)
Think of it like buying a car. A very expensive car.
The price was signed at R29.992 billion in 1999, but turned into R46.666bn with inflation and the fluctuations in exchange rates (the contracts were signed in dollars, euros and Swedish krone).
The state paid about R8.5bn in cash, which ran through the Department of Defence (DoD) budgets. (Think of that as a deposit on your very expensive car...
23 April 2014
(News)
Government officials are explaining the arms deal at the official inquiry, but much of the detail remains blocked by the commission itself.
Earlier this month, National Treasury deputy director-general Andrew Donaldson provided a detailed submission of the costs of the controversial 1999 arms deal to the Arms Procurement Commission.
The costs of the deal have been a key point of criticism...
14 April 2014
(News)
The Seriti Commission of Inquiry says the resignation of the chief evidence leader Tayob Aboobaker will not affect its work or public hearings being held in Pretoria.
The commission was appointed by President Jacob Zuma to investigate the procurement of arms from French, British and Swedish countries by former President Thabo Mbeki's administration.
The arms deal cost South Africa billions of...
10 April 2014
(News)
The arms deal cost a total of R46.666 billion.
That is the official figure for the 1999 Strategic Defence Procurement Package (SDPP) from the Treasury.
“The total nominal expenditure (that is the total cash outlay) on the SDPP between 2000/01 and 2013/14 has been R46 666 million,” said Treasury deputy director-general Andrew Donaldson.
The deal was financed through loans from foreign...
9 March 2014
(News)
South Africa’s controversial Strategic Defence Packages have thrown up some spectacular numbers, but few as remarkable as those required by Judge Willie Seriti of arms deal critic Richard Young before Young would be in a position to cross-examine Armscor witness Frits Nortje.
To comply with directives issued by Judge Seriti, the chairman of the Arms Procurement Commission (APC), Young would...
5 March 2014
(News)
ARMSCOR’s counter-trade agreements with foreign arms suppliers outside of the 1999 arms deal amounted to R5.4bn between 1988 and 2000, the Arms Procurement Commission heard on Tuesday.
Johannes Bernhardus de Beer, Armscor’s manager of defence industrial participation agreements, was testifying about the origin and rationale of the concept of Defence Industrial Participation within...
4 March 2014
(News)
Arms Procurement Commission chairman Judge Willie Seriti said on Monday he was disappointed at yet another delay in the commission’s proceedings.
The evidence of Armscor project manager Frits Nortje was postponed until March 17 to allow the commission’s evidence leaders to reach an agreement with arms-deal critic Richard Young to produce the documents he needed to cross-examine Mr...
1 March 2014
(News)
Andrew Feinstein, former ANC MP and author of The Shadow World: Inside the global arms trade, was interviewed by Power FM's Chris Vick about the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the arms deal.
28 February 2014
(Press release)
Paul Holden and I have cooperated with the Arms Procurement Commission since its inception in the hope that it would finally reveal the full truth of the notorious Arms Deal that will ultimately cost the South African taxpayer around R70-billion.
From early on in its existence I offered to assist the Commission in any way I could. Members of the research team asked me to introduce them to...
27 February 2014
(News)
Arms deal wistleblower, author and former African National Congress member of Parliament Andrew Feinstein speaks to Talk Radio 702's John Robbie about concerns around the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the Arms Deal.