Arms deal: Mbeki 'responsible'

2003-05-23 18:34

Cape Town - Leader of the Opposition Tony Leon called on President Thabo Mbeki on Friday to "take responsibility as the arms deal unravels".

In his weekly column in the Democratic Alliance's on-line publication, SA Today, he said it was becoming increasingly apparent the public did not know the full extent of the scandal and where it would lead.

"But we will know over time. Because like the president before him, Mr PW Botha in 1978, Mr Mbeki should learn from the information scandal that the truth will out."

By defensively and obstructively making the process more difficult, the government had landed up pointing the finger back at itself.

"That might be because the cabinet committee, which originally signed off on what was then a R50bn arms deal (in 1999), and which has now mushroomed to perhaps twice that amount, was chaired by none other than Mr Mbeki himself.

"So, as the arms deal unravels, the judgment call in question is not something that can be passed on to anyone, but to the number one official of State, President Mbeki," Leon said.

The Business Day newspaper reported on Wednesday that the government's final report on the arms procurement deal was heavily edited, and left out findings on gifts received by key players in the controversial deal.

The final report, handed to parliament in November 2001, also omitted "inaccuracies" in a defence department presentation to parliament's watchdog public accounts committee, it said.

- SAPA