"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," the statement said. Early this week, 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 High Court in Pretoria Willem van der Merwe, and High Court Judge Francis Legodi, would be the other two members of the three-person commission who would "investigate allegations of wrongdoing in the strategic defence procurement packages, generally known as the 'arms deal'," Zuma told reporters.
Since it was signed in 1999, the R60-billion deal has dogged South Africa's politics - after MP Patricia de Lille officially raised in Parliament allegations of corruption relating to the deal. 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. The Mail & Guardian has previously reported that the inquiry represents a stunning vindication for anti-corruption campaigner Terry Crawford-Browne, who has spent the past decade and all of his own money in a series of legal bids to have the contracts cancelled.
Read the full article on http://mg.co.za.
