Share

Arms deal inquiry failed - R2K

Pretoria - The Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the arms deal has failed to act fairly and consistently, the Right2Know Campaign said on Thursday.

"We have seen huge amounts of evidence being kept away from the public and hostility towards whistle-blowers and critics of the deal," it said on Thursday.

The commission, chaired by Judge Willie Seriti, was appointed by President Jacob Zuma three years ago to investigate alleged corruption in the 1999 multi-billion arms deal.

The campaign's Gauteng spokesperson Julie Reid told reporters in Pretoria that the campaign supported arms deal critics former ANC MP Andrew Feinstein, author Paul Holden, and researcher Hennie van Vuuren.

The three, who had been expected to testify at the commission, on Thursday announced their withdrawal from all participation.

They said they could no longer co-operate with an institution that "is [so] deeply compromised that its primary outcome will be to cover up".

Reid announced the launch of the campaign's new website.

All evidence submitted to the commission could be downloaded on the website.

"This evidence represents only a small part of what requires serious investigation by the commission and it is up to the commission and not up to the public to test this evidence," she said.

"We also believe that the Seriti commission is withholding this information."

The evidence on the website was already in the public domain, although it was only a fraction of the documents produced in other investigations.

Reid accused the commission of refusing to make many of the documents public, or use the evidence to cross-examine witnesses defending the deal.

"The decision by the commission to not make these documents public is unjustified and unfair," she said.

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Voting Booth
Do you think corruption-accused National Assembly Speaker Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula will survive a motion of no confidence against her?
Please select an option Oops! Something went wrong, please try again later.
Results
No, her days are numbered
41% - 282 votes
Yes, the ANC caucus will protect her
59% - 398 votes
Vote
Rand - Dollar
18.97
-0.4%
Rand - Pound
23.98
-0.3%
Rand - Euro
20.51
-0.2%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.36
-0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.4%
Platinum
906.75
+1.1%
Palladium
1,015.63
+1.4%
Gold
2,206.97
+0.6%
Silver
24.60
-0.2%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
68,261
+0.9%
All Share
74,453
+0.7%
Resource 10
56,939
+2.3%
Industrial 25
103,989
+0.7%
Financial 15
16,492
-0.2%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE