The Democratic Alliance (DA) has urged Parliament’s public accounts committee (Scopa) to put the arms deal back on its agenda for discussion.
DA public accounts spokesperson Brian Bell said in a statement on Thursday it was Scopa’s duty to investigate allegations that the final report of the controversial deal was edited.
”Media reports suggest that the final report into the arms deal was extensively edited in the consultation process between the auditor general and the executive.
”It appears therefore that Parliament was misled into believing that no substantive changes had been made to the report,” he said.
Business Day reported on Wednesday that the government’s final report on the arms procurement deal was heavily edited, and left out findings on gifts received by key players in the controversial deal.
The final report, handed over to Parliament in November 2001, also omitted ”inaccuracies” in a defence department presentation to Scopa, it said.
In reply to questions in the National Assembly on Wednesday, Deputy President Jacob Zuma said he was not aware of anybody editing reports on the investigation, while the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) said investigations were continuing on certain parts of the deal.
Bell said the request for the committee to look into the claims would be a litmus test for chairperson Francois Beukman’s stated commitment that the watchdog committee would not shy away from dealing with controversial issues.
Beukman (New National Party) replaced Dr Gavin Woods (Inkatha Freedom Party) as Scopa chairperson early last year.
Woods — who was at the forefront of original calls for a probe into the deal — resigned his post after clashing with African National Congress members on the committee over government’s handling of the arms deal investigation.
Scopa, which is tasked with oversight over state spending, initiated the investigation by the auditor-general, public protector and the NDPP into the multi-billion rand deal. – Sapa
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