Pretoria | Monday
PUBLIC hearings into allegations of corruption surrounding South Africa’s $5.5-billion arms procurement deal started in Pretoria on Monday – but the proceedings will not be aired live on television or on the radio.
A panel consisting of members of three government agencies probing the deal, turned down an application by public broadcaster SABC to broadcast proceedings live.
The panel, chaired by Public Protector Selby Baqwa, decided that national security, the effect on witnesses and teams probing the deal had to be taken into account.
In his ruling, Baqwa said that although South Africa’s constitution guaranteed freedom of expression, reasonable and justifiable limitations were permitted when it came to public hearings.
Baqwa said last month: “There are concerns that television cameras have an inhibiting effect on some people and an exhilarating one on others.”
The hearings are part of a probe by three statutory bodies into widespread allegations that 40 to 50 instances of wrongdoing were perpetrated in the making of the deal, under which South Africa will buy aircraft, patrol boats and submarines from five European countries.
Among the allegations being probed is one that the chief whip of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), Tony Yengeni, received a bribe, in the form of a luxury Mercedes Benz four-wheel drive, from a company with links to the deal.
The hearings were due to begin two weeks ago but were postponed at the request of the defence department, which said it needed more time to prepare.
The investigation into the arms deal is being carried out by Baqwa, the office of the auditor general and the director of public prosecutions.
It began in January this year at the insistence of parliament after auditor general Shauket Fakie released a report saying proper procedures had been sidestepped in the tender process for the deal.
A senior parliamentary analyst at the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, said he hoped that misunderstandings surrounding the South African public’s access to the proceedings would be cleared up.
“It’s an opportunity to shed light, and we hope this will prove to be real, on the makings of this deal in a way the public of South Africa can gain insight and assess whether or not it was reached in the right way,” Richard Calland said.
Meanwhile, two forensic auditors have been dropped from the investigation, Baqwa’s office said on the weekend. Representative Nicolette Teichmann said one of the men was taken off the probe because he was an auditor for the Department of Defence, and this represented a conflict of interest.
E-tv news reported that Wally van Heerden and Etienne Smit were dropped from the investigation. Teichmann said she could not confirm the names of the two men and referred inquiries to the auditor-general’s representative.
In terms of the deal, South Africa will over the next few years acquire four corvettes, three submarines, 30 light utility helicopters, 24 Hawk lead-in fighter trainers and 28 Gripen advanced light fighter aircraft. – AFP
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