OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday
STATE armaments agency Armscor says it will answer allegations of corruption against top officials following reports that it faces a R2bn lawsuit arising from a failed deal to purchase surplus SA Air Force aircraft.
Armscors reaction follows weekend reports that military hardware company Quantam International is planning to sue over an agreement with Armscor for the purchase of nine surplus C-160 Transall aircraft and millions of dollars worth of spares. However, four days before the money was to be paid, the deal collapsed.
Quantam has also forwarded its claims to several investigative agencies, including the auditor-general, the police, the directorate of public prosecutions and even the National Intelligence Agency.
The Sunday Independent reported that Quantams Roy Segers and Richard Parker claimed the deal may have been stymied because former Minister of Defence Joe Modise, and Ron Haywood, the current chairman of Armscor, wanted to put together their own deal to purchase the planes.
Both Modise and Haywood vehemently denied the claims, the paper said.
Meanwhile, a Cape Town Town defence company says it will hold off suing the government until President Thabo Mbeki decides whether to involve anti-corruption unit head Judge Willem Heath in a multi-agency probe into the states controversial R43bn arms deal.
Richard Young, managing director of CCII Systems, has been advised by public protector Selby Baqwa to go to court. His company was originally identified by the SA Navy as the preferred supplier for the integrated management system for the navy’s four new German corvettes, which forms part of the deal.
Young claimed the contract was awarded to another company with links to former defence officials. He forwarded his information to Heath and the auditor-general, who in a special report to Parliament last year recommended that his grievance be the subject of a separate forensic audit investigation.
Young plans to sue for damages of between R100 to R200m, but will only go to court if Heath is excluded from the probe, he said.