Pretoria - A top cop involved in investigating the controversial R70 billion arms deal of 1999 has maintained ANC and government officials – including President Jacob Zuma – most likely received bribes to influence the awarding of multimillion-rand arms contracts.
Colonel Johan du Plooy, the former Scorpions investigator whose investigations led to the conviction of Zuma’s former financial adviser Schabir Shaik for corruption, on Monday directly linked the president to arms deal corruption based on his investigation into Shaik and documentation discovered during other arms deal-related probes.
Du Plooy appeared before the arms deal commission, where he insisted – despite rigorous cross-examination by evidence leader Simmy Lebala SC and often hostile questioning by commission chairman Willie Seriti – that there was a possibility that the president had influenced some ministers in the inter-ministerial committee chaired by former president Thabo Mbeki.
The financial benefits Zuma got from Shaik and those allegedly received by other ministers were enough to raise red flags about his role and those of other bigwigs like the late former cabinet ministers Joe Modise and Stella Sigcau during the arms deal process, he said.
Du Plooy admitted there was no clear evidence which indicated there was direct influence at the level of the inter-ministerial committee, but said close relationships, such as that between Shaik’s brother Chippy and consultant Fana Hlongwane and ministers, made it possible to influence decisions at the highest level.
Chippy was the SANDF chief of acquisitions at the time of the arms deal. Hlongwane was Modise’s special adviser and is alleged to have received more than R150 million in “commissions” from BAE Systems.
Pushed on whether it was possible that Zuma influenced the inter-ministerial committee even though he was not part of the committee, Du Plooy maintained that “it is not impossible” that Zuma might have used his position in the ANC to influence the decision-making.
“There is no direct evidence showing the honourable president influenced the awarding of the contracts. However, what we have is that President Zuma financially benefited by helping Schabir Shaik become a BEE partner to a company that was later awarded the contract.
“After a meeting with the company, the shareholding of the company changed to include Shaik, and Zuma got money from Shaik. Because of his position in the ANC at the time, it is not impossible that he could have influenced those in the committee,” said Du Plooy.
The court had accepted during the Shaik trial that Zuma benefited financially from the arms deal through payments from Shaik in exchange for his influence during the arms procurement process, he said.
He also alluded to documentation which alleged that BAE Systems, one of the arms deal successful bidders, had financially supported Sigcau’s daughter during her stay in London as one of the red flags that created suspicions around SA politicians’ role in the process.
“There is no direct evidence that minister Sigcau influenced the decisions of the inter-ministerial committee, but there is evidence we cannot ignore. There is communication between the bidders which shows they considered her to be important to their bid being successful, and were financially supporting her daughter.
“While you don’t have evidence that she influenced the process, you cannot ignore these red flags about her financially benefiting from the process,” said Du Plooy. His
testimony continues on Tuesday.
Pretoria News