Pretoria | Thursday
ARMS acquisition chief Shamin ”Chippy” Shaik resigned on Wednesday, the Defence Ministry announced.
The notice of resignation was tendered to Defence Secretary January Masilela, who said he would recommend to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota that it be accepted.
The resignation would be effective from May 1.
Asked about the reasons for the move, ministry representative Sam Mkhwanazi said: ”He thinks he has made his contribution to the department and needs to move on”.
Shaik was not immediately available for comment.
An inquiry early this year found him guilty of misconduct for disclosing confidential information contained in an auditor-general draft report on the country’s controversial multi-billion rand arms deal. The report was critical of his involvement in the deal.
Shaik was given a final written warning and his suspension was lifted.
He noted an appeal against the outcome of the hearing, but subsequently withdrew that, Mkhwanazi said.
Lekota suspended Shaik with full pay in November last year and banned him from setting foot in any military installation or headquarters.
The draft auditor-general’s report was handed to Lekota late last year. The minister then instructed his legal advisor to give the report to Shaik for comment.
The misconduct charges arose from Shaik passing the document on to his lawyers, who in turn took up the issue with the auditor-general.
Shaik’s brother, Schabir, was arrested in November last year and charged with the theft of Cabinet documents, including minutes containing information on the arms deal.
Schabir Shaik’s black empowerment company, Nkobi Holdings, owned shares in Thales International the company which would be providing systems for the navy’s four new corvettes. – Sapa