Madam Deputy Speaker, President Zuma said on numerous occasions that the government is committed to clean administration and zero tolerance for corruption. It is therefore a huge irony that allegations of corruption in relation to the arms procurement deal, spanning more than ten years, have never been fully investigated. The Standing Committee on Public Accounts, Scopa, at the time did its utmost but achieved very little, mainly as a result of government resistance to any attempt to get to the truth. The only investigation was a superficial joint investigation by the Public Protector, the Auditor- General and the National Prosecuting Authority in 2001.
Former ANC and Scopa member Andrew Feinstein in his book After the Party said of this report, and I quote:
It was a major disappointment. It was contradictory and avoided the key issues. In essence, the report asked as many questions as it answered. As far as the ANC and government were concerned, the matter was at an end.
Madam Deputy Speaker, reading the history of the arms deal, one is struck by the constant actions of the Mbeki government to frustrate any attempt to get to the bottom of what transpired. In fact, every trick in the book has been used to avoid a full inquiry.
Since the 2001 investigation important new evidence has emerged, and Scopa will soon consider this evidence. The DA calls on the ANC to afford its members on Scopa all the opportunity and support to consider the new evidence objectively. The third Parliament has failed to get to the truth in this matter - let us in no way stand in the way of the fourth Parliament to close this unfortunate chapter in the short history of our democracy. [Applause.]