By Christelle Terreblanche and Gaye Davis
Former members of Thabo Mbeki's government could be forced to explain the rationale behind the R47 billion Airbus military freight planes fiasco as demands for a full-scale probe surge.
There are calls from across the political spectrum for the contract to be cancelled and for heads to roll after this week's revelation that the cost of the deal had ballooned from R17bn to an "estimated" R47bn.
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said it proved President Jacob Zuma's new government had been "sabotaged by decisions taken by its predecessor".
Vavi demanded the government or Parliament get to the bottom of the "cruel" 2006 deal to buy eight new-generation freight planes for its African peace missions at such a cost.
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An irate Defence and Military Veterans Minister Lindiwe Sisulu said this week that "some explanation has to be given to cabinet", a reference to the possibility that those who agreed to the deal - which never went out to tender - might be called on to explain.
Sisulu was briefed on the deal by her predecessor, Charles Nqakula.
She said that as far as she was aware, none of cabinet's current members had been party to the decision.
The extent of the government's exposure to the spiralling costs of the contract emerged in parliament this week when Armscor CEO Sipho Thomo was subjected to intense questioning in the national assembly's defence committee, chaired by ANC MP Nyami Booi.
MPs' interest was piqued by the Auditor General identifying the R2.9bn so far spent in pre-payments as possible irregular expenditure.
Sisulu briefed Zuma on Friday in Bloemfontein, when the defence force marked South Africa's 10 years of peacekeeping missions in Africa.
Unlike the C130s used currently, the Airbus A400Ms are large enough to ferry Oryx helicopters without their rotor heads having to be removed and reassembled.
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