Political Bureau and Sapa
ALLEGATIONS that President Jacob Zuma received money from a winning bidder in the arms deal, Thales, are “nothing new” the Presidency has said. The ANC denies it received e1 million from the French company.
They were reacting to a Sunday report that payments of R500 000 a year to Zuma were arranged through Ajay Sooklal, a lawyer and “fixer” for Thales, and the ANC received a cheque for e1m (R14.2m).
Code words like “Eiffel Tower” were used in communication between Zuma and Sooklal, the report said, citing transcripts of testimony given before a judge in arbitration between Sooklal and Thales.
The Presidency said the allegations were a “rehash” and there was nothing new in them.
The Sunday Times said a Thales representative had also lavished fancy clothes on Zuma – who was then deputy president of the ANC – and paid legal fees and for him to stay in hotels in Europe.
The South African subsidiary of Thales, Thint, won a multibillion-rand arms contract.
The Presidency noted the allegations “that have been repeated” seeking to link Zuma “to whatever wrongdoing is alleged by critics of the ‘arms deal’ “, spokesman Mac Maharaj said.
Any information that could help the Seriti Commission of Inquiry into the Strategic Defence Procurement Packages should be handed to the commission.
ANC spokesman Zizi Kodwa noted the “continued attempt to fan flames” of public suspicion in the ANC and its leadership.
The ANC had “no record of receipt” of a donation from Thales, he said.
Kodwa also lashed out at a media report that Zuma had orchestrated a R1 trillion nuclear power deal for Russia to build as many as eight nuclear plants in South Africa.
“If there is anything that could be suspect in the process, let us separate that from the main issue (of being) a country with a problem of energy.”
The Mail & Guardian reported on Friday that Zuma had negotiated the deal directly with President Vladimir Putin of Russia and instructed Energy Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson to sign it.
“People are playing the man and not the ball. President Jacob Zuma is implementing what he announced in the State of the Nation manifesto,” said Kodwa.
“We have a problem of energy (supply)… Yet when we put together a programme, there is a whole noise about it.
“Nothing is free or cheap.
“We have got to take tough decisions. “We have to look at what is best for the country.”
On Saturday, the Department of Energy denied Zuma had interfered or forced Joemat-Pettersson to sign the deal.
“The allegations are… purely concocted to tarnish the image and integrity of the president and the government,” said Wolsey Barnard, the acting director-general of the Energy Department.