Terms of arms inquiry to be announced
2011-10-26 15:20
Johannesburg - Justice Minister Jeff Radebe will announce the terms of reference for the new arms deal inquiry in Parliament on Thursday, his spokesperson said.
"This is expected to unlock answers to a number of questions that include the scope of the inquiry as well as powers of the commission," Tlali Tlali said in a statement on Wednesday.
The announcement would be made at 11:00.
On Monday, President Jacob Zuma announced that Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Willie Seriti would chair the commission of inquiry into the arms deal.
Deputy Judge President of the North Gauteng High Court, Willem van der Merwe, and Judge Francis Legodi of the same court would be the other two members of the three-person commission.
Zuma said they would investigate allegations of wrongdoing in the strategic defence procurement packages, generally known as the "arms deal".
The deal has dogged South Africa's politics since it was signed in 1999 after then Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille officially raised allegations of corruption relating to the deal in Parliament.
Zuma himself was once charged with corruption after his financial adviser Schabir Shaik, who had a tender to supply part of the requirements, was found to have facilitated a bribe for Zuma from a company which was part of the deal.
Shaik is on medical parole after being sentenced to jail for 15 years and the charges against Zuma were withdrawn shortly before he became president due to alleged interference in the investigation.
- SAPA
