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'Ministers linked to arms deal'
19/03/2008 20:26 - (SA)
Cape Town - Documents from a German probe appeared to link members of Cabinet to arms deal corruption, Democratic Alliance spokesperson on the arms deal Eddie Trent said on Wednesday.
He said the DA had come into possession of "highly significant" documents from the chief senior public prosecutor in Germany.
In a letter to Swiss authorities last year, German prosecutors had claimed the German Frigate Consortium paid "considerable bribes" to conclude a tender agreement for South Africa's four corvettes.
"It more specifically alleges that such bribe money was paid to both South African officials and members of Cabinet," Trent said.
The document referred to the establishment of shell companies and other methods of facilitating bribes in the form of commissions.
One such example was a company registered in Liberia through which -according to the German prosecutors - millions of rands directly or indirectly flowed to officials and members of Cabinet.
"The exact timing of the payments and the identities of the recipients are not clear at this stage," Trent said.
"However, the German investigation is continuing."
Trent said that in the light of these claims, President Thabo Mbeki had no choice but to immediately appoint a completely independent commission of inquiry to probe the multi-billion rand deal.
The DA would send a copy of the documents to the Justice Minister Bridgette Mabandla and would ask she explain exactly how her department intended cooperating with the German investigation.
Trent earlier this week submitted a trio of parliamentary questions for Mbeki on the arms deal.
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