The anti-arms deal campaigner Terry Crawford-Browne’s lead counsel believes that the announcement of the terms of reference of the arms deal commission of inquiry will be announced shortly. And he believes a proper inquiry will be launched.
Paul Hoffman, the director of the Institute for Accountability in Southern Africa and lead counsel for Terry Crawford-Browne – who for 12 years has waged war in the courts to get the multibillion-rand arms deal reinvestigated – said last night: “I remain optimistic”.
Down the line, he said, it was possible that about R70 billion would be repaid to the state by the arms companies.
However, if the terms of reference were unsatisfactorily narrow, it was likely they would continue to fight the case in court, he pledged. The Constitutional Court is set to rule on Crawford-Browne’s application on November 17.
Hoffman said that in discussions with the state over the case the state had asked for an extension of time to October 20, which now appeared to be a significant date for further action.
The president announced in mid-September that a commission would be constituted amid speculation that he did not want the court to set the agenda of the inquiry.
Hoffman noted that it was the institute’s proposal that a retired chief justice head the commission with other judges taking responsibility for each leg of the arms deal: the Gripen aircraft associated with the BAE/Saab contract, the corvettes associated with the French, the German submarine consortium and the Italian helicopter contract.
The equipment was provided to the SA Air Force and the SA Navy through what became known as the arms deal.
Yesterday cabinet spokesman Jimmy Manyi deferred questions to presidency spokesman Mac Maharaj, but he did say: “Watch this space.” Announcements on the arms deal inquiry were the preserve of the presidency, not the cabinet.
Maharaj said yesterday that he could not provide “any clues” as to when the commission or its terms would be announced. He did note that the president, last week, said it would likely take place within two weeks – adding weight to the belief that an announcement is imminent.
David Maynier, the DA’s defence spokesman, said the delay of the announcement “is probably the result of the fact that (the ANC) had not been informed about the decision to appoint a commission”.
Just in the case of the BAE-SAAB leg of the deal, he said, about R1bn had allegedly flowed in bribes to win the deal. “The question is who received the forward payments and how much did they receive?”
Maynier noted that the president might himself, ironically, appear as a witness before the commission. - Donwald Pressly