Zuma's lawyers working on list
2003-07-30 21:49
Johannesburg - Deputy President Jacob Zuma said on Wednesday his legal team was drafting a response to a list of questions the Scorpions put to him earlier this month regarding the arms deal.
"I wish to reiterate that there was no deadline set for my response," Zuma said in a statement. "I shall respond at my earliest convenience."
The Scorpions have given Zuma until Thursday to provide them with answers to the questions, which were sent to his lawyers in Durban on July 9.
The special unit is investigating the deputy president about his alleged involvement in the multibillion rand arms procurement deal.
Scorpions spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said earlier on Wednesday that most of the questions to Zuma related to his relationship with his financial adviser Schabir Shaik - himself under investigation regarding the arms deal - and Shaik's company, Nkobi Holdings.
The main allegation against Zuma is that he tried to solicit R500 000 from a company which benefited from the arms deal.
In return, he allegedly offered to protect the firm during subsequent investigations.
Last Sunday, the Sunday Times newspaper incurred the deputy president's wrath by publishing the questions Zuma had been asked by the Scorpions.
Despicable
This was "totally unacceptable and despicable", Zuma said at the weekend. Despite my silence ... there have been constant leaks of information to the media, which was clearly designed to cast aspersions on my integrity."
On Wednesday, he said he decided to respond to the questions despite his reservations.
"The interests of justice demand that the investigation be brought to a speedy close," Zuma said.
"I had already begun working on a draft response prepared by my counsel when, as I have said before, to my amazement and outrage, I found that the Sunday press of July 27 carried front page stories with graphic detail of all the questions.
"This is not the first time that there have been leaks to the media of information gathered by the Scorpions for the arms deal investigation," he said.
"Indeed, throughout, there has been a consistent pattern of such leaks.
"Given the history of the matter and the serious nature of the leaks, I would have expected that the NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) and the Ministry of Justice ... would have refrained from attributing blame for the leaks on the strength of a hasty, cursory investigation."
- SAPA