Heath to testify in Shaik trial
2004-12-01 20:15
Durban - Former Heath investigating unit head Willem Heath, will take the stand in the Schabir Shaik fraud and corruption trial in Durban High Court on Thursday.
This follows two days of testimony relating to Heath's exclusion from investigations into alleged arms deal irregularities.
On Tuesday the leader of the Independent Democrats, Patricia de Lille, and former chairperson of parliament's standing committee on Public Accounts, Gavin Woods, testified.
The were testifying about the Heath unit's exclusion from a probe into alleged irregularities in the multi-billion rand arms acquisition process.
On Wednesday, Heath's former second-in-command advocate Gerhard Visagie, testified about the unit's difficulty in getting a proclamation approved giving it the go-ahead to get an investigation off the ground.
Lubbe receives letter from Maduna
He was followed by advocate Jannie Lubbe, another former Heath unit member.
Lubbe told the court about a letter he received from former Justice Minister Penuell Maduna just before midnight on January 16 2001.
In the letter, Maduna confirmed that he had requested Lubbe and advocate Frank Kahn, SC, the Western Cape attorney-general, to "quickly go through whatever material, particularly that was furnished to Judge Willem Heath by Ms Patricia de Lille MP sometime last year".
Maduna said he wanted them to advise him on whether there was anything which would warrant a criminal investigation or "an investigation on such as ought to be conducted by a special investigating unit.
"For this purpose you may wish to interview Ms de Lille and her sources among others."
Maduna wrote that president Thabo Mbeki told him he needed Lubbe and Kahn's assistance to come to a decision about establishing a special investigating unit or to refer the matter to the Heath unit.
Maduna wrote: "The president has to make a decision in this regard on Friday, at the latest."
Action against identifiable person
"If there is any evidence of the commission of any offence in this regard, you are urgently requested to immediately take appropriate action against any identifiable person involved no matter their position or rank."
After consulting with "certain interested parties to obtain further information, including Ms De Lille," Lubbe and Kahn responded in writing to Maduna on January 18.
They said an investigation by a special investigating unit was warranted and they agreed with a standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) report that a "multi-disciplinary team" would be best suited to do this.
Lubbe said at that stage there were issues surrounding the legalities of Heath as head of the unit and that a "change of the head of the unit during investigation might practically hamper the investigation".
On Thursday Heath himself is expected to testify on the issue of his exclusion.
- SAPA