Government rejects special arms probe

The South African government has refused to allow the country’s special investigating unit to inquire into allegations of corruption in a US $5.5 billion arms deal, news reports said on Tuesday. However, the final decision on the damaging controversty rests with President Thabo Mbeki. The arms deal, approved in 1999 to re-equip the South African armed forces, awarded contracts to several European companies, including British Aerospace and Agusta of Italy.

Allegations of corruption were first aired six months ago by Patricia de Lille, a member of parliament for the opposition Pan African Congress (PAC), who claimed she had information that some ANC politicians had accepted bribes from foreign arms companies. Justice Minister Penuell Maduna said on Monday that the special unit should be excluded from the probe on the grounds that existing agencies could do the job.

But the unit’s exclusion has been criticised as a “heavy handed” attempt by the government to block further investigations, Britain’s ‘Financial Times’ reported. “Government is showing an incredible insensitivity to public opinion,” Tom Lodge, professor of political studies at Wits University in Johannesburg was quoted as saying. “They talk about transparency and zero tolerance for corruption, but in practice they show contempt for parliament and a worrying dislike of independent inquiries.”