Arms deal: ‘I had no conflict of interest’

SANDF chief of acquisitions during the 1999 arms deal period Shamin “Chippy” Shaik did not hand-pick any particular suppliers, the Seriti commission of inquiry heard yesterday.

“I merely would like to place it on record I did not in any way influence the technical terms to select or deselect any products that were offered to the various prime contractors,” Shaik (pictured) told the inquiry in Pretoria.

“I maintain I acted appropriately and within my acquisition mandate at the time.”

In a sworn statement to the inquiry, Shaik said he had been advised there would not be any confl ict of interest regarding his acquisition role and his brother Schabir’s company, Altech Defence Systems, which later became African Defence Systems (ADS).

ADS was awarded the contract to supply combat systems for frigates.

“I sought legal opinion on this issue, which confirmed I had no confl ict of interest in the procurement process,” said Shaik.

“I had disclosed my brother’s business association with Thomson South Africa and recused myself from any decision relating to the combat suite.”

Richard Young, a losing bidder in the multibillion-rand arms procurement process and outspoken critic of the deal, has accused Chippy Shaik of playing an improper role in the selection of the contractors for the combat suite.

Shaik rubbished the allegations. He said he knew the issue of his failure to recuse himself from the deal was in the public domain.

“It became a bit messy on the issue of proper recusal, non-recusal, etc. I had no confl ict of interest. I had no interest or shares in any company, so I could have no confl ict of interests,” he said.

Government acquired, among other hardware, 26 Gripen fighter aircraft and 24 Hawk lead-in fighter-trainer aircraft for the SA Air Force and frigates and submarines for the SA Navy. –

I had disclosed my brother’s business association with Thomson South Africa and recused myself from any decision relating to the combat suite

Shamin ‘Chippy’ Shaik