De Lille presses charges over arms deal

She said Tony Yengeni was the 30th person on the list and had been prosecuted, so it was only right that the other 29 also face the music, according to a report on the Mail & Guardian Online site. Included on the list is the likes of former defence head Siphiwe Nyanda, ex-CE of Armscor General Beukes, ex-chairperson of the Public Enterprise Committee Mandla Msomi and ANC MP Lumka Yengeni. De Lille said the NPA was taking too long with the matter and she had gone ahead and pressed charges. Full report on Mail & Guardian Online site

De Lille’s move comes as German investigators say they are also looking into the list. They have confirmed to The Star they are pursuing two probes. German investigator Andreas Bruns said ‘one is about ThyssenKrupp and Chippy Shaik (former chief of acquisitions at the Department of Defence) in Dusseldorf. Then there\'s an investigation in Munich, which concerns the list of 31 cars.’ Authorities in Germany are investigating the R450m defence contract with German Frigate Consortium-Thomson, including ThyssenKrupp, which won a bid to supply SA with four corvettes back in 1999. At the heart of the German allegations are a series of internal memos between employees of ThyssenKrupp and Shaik, which point to Shaik allegedly soliciting a $3m (R23m) bribe. Full report in The Star

Shamin ‘Chippy’ Shaik, brother of convicted fraudster Schabir, will face corruption and fraud charges. The Sowetan says that it has ‘reliably learnt’ that the former head of acquisitions at the defence force will be charged by the Scorpions. The NPA’s media spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi said, however, no decision had yet been made to either investigate or charge Chippy. The report also said reports of ‘rumours’ that Chippy had disappeared because he feared an investigation had been rejected by his brothers, Yunus and Mo. Yunus described the rumours as ‘completely, utterly rubbish’. He said that Chippy was in Mozambique to attend to business interests in mining. The Sunday Times reported that a Shamin Shaik, with the same identity document number as Chippy, flew to Singapore on March 11 with a return date scheduled for April 30. Full report in the Sowetan Full Sunday Times report

But SA agencies say they are not planning a joint probe of the latest allegations. Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana, National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli, and Auditor-General Terence Nombembe met last week to discuss the possibility of a joint investigation into several new claims, including the Shaik matter, but according to a report on the IoL site the three decided that each ‘institution would deal with issues that have been raised based on their own mandates’. But the Public Protector’s Office said it would consider a request by the DA that it investigate claims that Chippy Shaik took a bribe, according to Business Day. Full report on the IoL site Full Business Day report

Welcoming the decision, the DA\'s Eddie Trent said all three offices should now be proactive in pursuing their respective investigations. A Mail & Guardian report quotes him as saying: ‘The DA believes that it is not necessary for all three offices to coordinate their investigations, as long as they cooperate where appropriate.’ He added that any investigation should be free of state interference, and all three agencies should make a concerted effort to co-operate with any other investigating agency abroad looking into this matter. However, ID leader Patricia de Lille said Mushwana\'s statement ‘says absolutely nothing’. ’We have again missed an opportunity to deal with the outstanding allegations in the De Lille Dossier and the outstanding recommendations made by the Joint Investigating Task Team.’ Full Mail & Guardian report See WORLD section (below) for more on UK probe on arms deal