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Legalbrief   |   your legal news hub Sunday 28 April 2024

Another case lodged against arms deal

Following politically-connected attorney Ajay Sooklal's affidavit in support of a Gauteng High Court application by Corruption Watch and Right2Know to have the findings of the Seriti Commission into the arms deal set aside, the Quaker Peace Centre has instituted a claim against the government to cancel the British Aerospace component of the deal and for the aircraft to be returned, notes a Daily Maverick report. The centre wants R35bn to be paid back to the SAs fiscus as the deal is tainted by corruption and did not comply with legal procurement processes. The claim concentrates on one of the biggest components of the arms deal, that with British Aerospace (Operations) Limited (BAe). In terms of this part of the deal, Hawk and Gripen fighter jets were acquired at a cost of R35bn (at 2015 currency exchange rates). ‘Gripen fighter jets are manufactured in Sweden; however, in this instance BAe procured them for SA. The BAe transaction is assailed both because it is tainted by corruption and also because it is invalid for want of compliance with tender criteria laid down in the Constitution and because the loan taken to pay BAe was unauthorised,’ said the Peace Centre, a non-profit and public benefit organisation. Respondents are the SA Government, Armscor, BAe, Barclays Bank PLC, Her Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State and the Speaker of the House of Assembly. No relief is sought against BAe, Barclays, the UK Secretary of State or the Speaker of the House of Assembly, who have been joined because of their legal interest in the relief claimed. ‘Two causes of action relate to the invalidity of the deal; the third relies on the deal being tainted by the corruption that attended its conclusion,’ said the centre.