Arms deal probe alive and well

The programme included a meeting on 4 August to discuss the handover of cases relating to the arms deal from the National Prosecuting Authority to the Hawks, the DA's David Maynier and Mark Steel said. The programme also included meetings to discuss the arms deal and consider submissions from other interested parties on 10, 12 and 13 August. The report quotes Maynier and Steel as saying: 'The meeting with the Hawks will give Scopa the opportunity to probe the state of current investigations being conducted into the arms deal.' The Hawks should demonstrate they were serious about conducting a proper investigation into the arms deal by ensuring there was a sufficient number of properly qualified investigators, that they were properly resourced, and co-operated with investigating authorities overseas. Moreover, the meetings would give Scopa the opportunity to probe changes made to the final report of the joint investigation report into the strategic defence procurement packages. Full report on the News24 site

Parliament will discuss new evidence, documents and testimonies about the multibillion-rand arms deal, says a Beeld report. Scopa chair Themba Godi confirmed that the legislature will consider a presentation by businessman Richard Young. 'This is new information. We will determine in what way it may take the issues forward.' Young, whose CCII Systems lost a tender for a fleet of corvettes, alleges in the report that the Auditor-General, Public Protector and the NPA misrepresented the findings of a joint investigations team into the arms deal. He bases the allegations on documents not available in 2000 when the investigation team looked into the transactions. Full Beeld report