Scopa to quiz AG on arms report

2003-08-04 18:08

Cape Town - Parliament's watchdog public accounts committee (Scopa) is to question Auditor-General Shauket Fakie later this month on claims of omissions in the final report of the arms deal investigation.

This follows the release of a special report by Fakie in June, in which he denied allegations that the final arms deal report was "heavily edited" and "doctored".

Scopa chair Francois Beukman said at a committee meeting on Monday MPs had earmarked August 20 for a public hearing on the claims, and the AG's response.

Fakie has labelled the allegations as unfounded and, at times, biased.

He also suggested, in his report to the committee, that certain MPs may have transgressed rule 66 of Parliament by casting aspersions on the integrity and dignity of his office.

The government's controversial multi-billion rand arms deal was investigated by the AG, the Public Protector and the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

The three agencies presented their results to Parliament in November 2001, finding no evidence of unlawful conduct by the state.

Fakie has since come under fire for reported "discrepancies" between a draft report submitted to the executive and the final report, prompting calls from the opposition Democratic Alliance for the probe to be re-opened.

- SAPA