Now UK authorities probe arms deal payments

The Guardian, says Britain’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has asked the Scorpions to help probe the accounts of Fana Hlongwane, a prominent businessman and former adviser to the late Defence Minister Joe Modise. According to the Sunday Times, Scorpions spokesperson Makhosini Nkosi would only say: ‘We are not going to say anything for now because those who are close to the investigation are on leave,’ he said. SFO detectives were expected to travel to Pretoria soon. The SFO was investigating whether payments were made while Hlongwane was an adviser on the arms deal to Modise, according to The Guardian. Hlongwane is also former director of state arms manufacturer Denel. He is now the chairman of the Ngwane Defence Group, which comprises SA companies involved in the manufacture of defence equipment. Full report in The Guardian Full Sunday Times report

Modise, who quit the post in 1999 and died in 2001, was named in a Parliamentary report that year as being involved in a company that stood to benefit from the arms-procurement deal. According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, the deal included the purchase of 12 trainer Hawk jets from Saab and BAE worth £1.5bn, but investigators said the government was not fully told of its costs and some contractors were treated more favourably. Full Mail & Guardian Online report

The DA has called President Thabo Mbeki to appoint a judicial commission to investigate the 1999 arms deal. According to a Mail & Guardian Online report, the DA\'s Eddie Trent and Roy Jankielsohn said that from the outset the DA had called for a judicial commission of inquiry, autonomous from the state, and with a comprehensive and overarching mandate, to investigate the arms deal in its entirety. ‘Until this happens, new allegations of corruption and speculation about procedural irregularities will continue to haunt the ANC government.’ Full report on the Mail & Guardian Online site