Programme News
12 June 2015
(Press release)
Less than 24 hours before an urgent high court application in the High Court in Pretoria on behalf of the Blyvooruitzicht Mining Village, parties have reached an interim settlement agreement.
The original application sought to compel the Merafong City Local Municipality and Rand Water to reconnect water supply to Blyvooruitzicht after it was disconnected last month.
In the agreement, the...
12 December 2014
(News)
A middleman in the 1999 multi-billion rand arms procurement deal on Thursday told the Seriti Commission of Inquiry he failed to understand why he had been called to testify.
“Why am I here?” Fana Hlongwana asked the commission.
He said he did not understand why there was an issue over the funds, assumed to be millions, he was paid when he acted as a consultant for then defence...
13 November 2014
(News)
SANDF chief of acquisitions during the 1999 arms deal period Shamin “Chippy” Shaik did not hand-pick the particular suppliers, the Seriti Commission of Inquiry heard on Tuesday.
“I merely would like to place it on record that I did not in any way influence the technical terms to select or de-select any products that were offered to the various prime contractors,” Shaik...
11 November 2014
(News)
The long-awaited appearance of Shamin “Chippy” Shaik at the arms deal commission on Monday is likely to bring some renewed interest to the beleaguered inquiry. Shaik, government’s head of acquisitions during the 1999 arms deal, is set to give evidence for four days this week.
Previous high-profile government leaders involved in the deal have proved to be something of a damp...
10 November 2014
(News)
The long-awaited appearance of Shamin “Chippy” Shaik at the arms deal commission on Monday is likely to bring some renewed interest to the beleaguered inquiry. Shaik, government’s head of acquisitions during the 1999 arms deal, is set to give evidence for four days this week.
Previous high-profile government leaders involved in the deal have proved to be something of a damp...
10 November 2014
(News)
The crux of the case against Chippy Shaik – if such a case exists – is that he was key to influencing the awarding of bids to arms companies. This allegedly resulted in dodgy tender awards at hugely inflated prices – an allegation Shaik has denied.
But you would never know this just by listening to his evidence at the arms deal commission this week.
Shaik, who now lives in Perth...
21 October 2014
(News)
Two London-based critics won't testify at the Seriti commission of inquiry, despite the commission saying that it will reissue their subpoenas.
Arms deal critics Paul Holden and Andrew Feinstein will not testify at the arms deal commission, despite the commission’s previous announcement that it would reissue their subpoenas.
It emerged on Monday that Holden’s subpoena...
21 October 2014
(News)
Hennie Van Vuuren, author and key critic of the arms deal, has declined to take the oath or give evidence at the arms procurement commission.
Hennie Van Vuuren is currently a researcher at the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation and co-author of The Devil in the Detail: How the Arms Deal changed everything.
Van Vuuren and co-researchers Paul Holden and Andrew Feinstein withdrew their...
21 October 2014
(News)
Legal action will be taken against arms deal critic Hennie van Vuuren for refusing to testify, the Seriti Commission of Inquiry said on Monday.
Chairman of the inquiry, Judge Willie Seriti, told Geoff Budlender, SC, representing Van Vuuren, that the course of action would be decided on.
“The law is there. It will have to take its course. We will decide in due course on the sort of...
21 October 2014
(News)
The arms companies have successfully avoided scrutiny at the Seriti Commission, essentially putting the whistle-blowers and critics on trial.
The absence of the arms companies from the Seriti Commission is telling.
The commission’s first phase was focused on the arms deal’s rationale – why the South African government bought what it did, the deal’s affordability and the...