Mbeki: no regret over arms deal
Lawyer tearful in standoff with ex-president at Seriti probe
THABO Mbeki once vented his anger at arms deal critics and whistleblowers by writing an open letter to the nation — quoting the Bible.
“Our country needs facts, not allegations,” was the title of the letter penned in 2003 by thenpresident Mbeki.
It is a message the greyhaired former president repeated this week. “To this day, there have been allegations plenty, but for 16 years no one has produced fact,” he told the commission of inquiry into the purchase of military hardware headed by Judge Willie Seriti. “Let this evidence be produced so that action can be taken.”
The inquiry, appointed by President Jacob Zuma (who was implicated in soliciting kickbacks but never put on trial), starts hearing evidence tomorrow from some of those Mbeki described in his letter as “fishers of corrupt men”. He said they painted the government as corrupt and were hellbent on reeling in a “rich haul of corrupt government luminaries”.
Phase two of the Arms Procurement Commission — dealing with fraud and corruption allegations — boasts a witness list of some of South Africa’s most prominent whistleblowers who exposed skulduggery in the lower echelons of power in the estimated R70-billion purchase of frigates, submarines, jet fighters and helicopters for the defence force.
They include Patricia de Lille, who called for a judicial commission of inquiry in 1999, for- mer ANC MP Andrew Feinstein, parliament’s former standing committee for public accounts chairman, Gavin Woods, businessman Richard Young and Scorpions investigator Johan du Plooy.
The media aired damning tales of corruption, including investigations by the Sunday Times into former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni and Zuma’s “financial adviser”, Schabir Shaik, before Mbeki’s Letter from the President appeared on the ANC Today website.
“In the biblical Gospel according to St Matthew, it is said that Jesus Christ saw Simon Peter and his brother Andrew fishing in the Sea of Galilee. And He said to them: ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Perhaps taking a cue from this, some in our country have appointed themselves as ‘fishers of corrupt men’,” wrote Mbeki.
“They speculate about the possibility of a senior official being shown to be corrupt, and
He addresses us in a very condescending manner. He is very superior
how this might lead to the conclusion that the whole procurement process was corrupted.”
Mbeki, pausing often to clear his throat and gesturing animatedly with his hands, calmly brushed off an initial series of questions on Thursday from advocate Paul Hoffman, who is representing arms deal activist Terry Crawford-Browne. Hoffman’s questions were at times vague.
Asked why Shaik’s brother, Mo, was appointed consulargeneral in Hamburg, Germany, home of a successful arms deal supplier, for just three months, Mbeki replied: “Who goes to which capital, what car they drive, what shoes they wear has nothing to do with presidents.”
And then things became personal, emotional and heated. “I’ve come here today to not deal with minions,” said Hoffman, waving a pointed finger in the direction of former ministers TrevorManuel, Mosiuoa Lekota and Alec Erwin.
Turning his attention to Mbeki, he said he had come “to ask the man in charge”.
Mbeki took offence. “I must say, I’m really quite angry at Mr Hoffman talking about my colleagues here as minions. They are not minions. They might be minions in his eyes, but I don’t know if this entitles him to making statements like these. Privately, maybe he might want to say so. But I think it is very, very offensive,” he said with a scowl.
Hoffman fired off more questions. Mbeki shot back answers. Seriti occasionally intervened. Proceedings drew to a close inside the municipal chambers in Pretoria.
Then came Mbeki’s parting shot: “He addresses us in a very condescending manner. He is very superior . . . very superior, very condescending and says all these insulting things. I hope all of us understand we are trying to do something about creating a new society and maybe we need a special effort to take things out of our bloodstream — things that are ingrained.”
And, in an instant, the commission resembled a soap opera. Hoffman, depicted as racist, started sobbing. His daughter, he said, committed suicide last month and he was under heavy medication. “Forgive me, Mr Mbeki, for . . . talking down to you. That is certainly not my intention . . . I have respect for you and what you did to get us [South Africa] here,” he said.
Mbeki offered his condolences. The two shook hands.
Young, whose company lost out on a bid to supply equipment for frigates, is due to testify tomorrow.