admin
They are David Maynier, Patricia de Lille, Major General Hans Meiring, Colonel Johan du Plooy, Paul Hoffman, Terry Crawford-Browne, Dr Richard Young, Gavin Woods, Andrew Woods, Andrew Feinstein, Paul Holden, Raenette Taljaard, and Fana Hlongwane.
Maynier is a Democratic Alliance MP and Du Plooy and Meiring are part of the Hawks. Crawford-Browne, a retired banker, has spent years trying to get an independent inquiry into the arms deal established. Feinstein, is a former ANC MP, while Hlongwane is alleged to have been a kingpin during the arms deal.
Chairperson of the Arms Deal Commission Judge Willie Seriti announced the list.
He said letters to notify the witnesses were sent out on Friday.
They would appear before the commission during public hearings to be held at the council chambers at the Sammy Marks Conference Centre in Pretoria between 4 March and 31 May.
“We do have the power to subpoena,” Seriti said.
“A failure to comply with that subpoena might surmount to criminal offense.”
He said a person who was subpoenaed was compelled to appear before the commission. However there was a clause which meant evidence could not be used in criminal prosecution.
In October 2011 President Jacob Zuma announced that Supreme Court of Appeal Judge Seriti would chair the three-man commission of inquiry, flanked by judges Willem van der Merwe and Francis Legodi.
The deal, which was initially estimated to cost R43 million, has dogged South Africa’s politics since it was signed in 1999, after then Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille raised allegations of corruption 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 him from a French arms company.
The charges against Zuma were later dropped.
Seriti also announced on Saturday the committee has almost completed the second phase of its work.
During this phase it issued requests for information to various government institutions and departments including the directorate of priority crime investigation, the national prosecuting authority, parliament, and cabinet.
He said requests were also made to financial institutions. Calls were also made for public submissions. These should have been submitted by 30 July.
“The call for public submissions was disappointingly poor,” Seriti said. The commission only received seven.
“By contrast almost all government entities have thus far co-operated with the commission and have provided us with the documentation and information we requested.”
Letters of request for information, evidence and/or meetings were sent to entities in Germany, Liechtenstein, Sweden and Britain, Seriti said.
“They all graciously agreed to meet with the representatives of the commission and those meetings were held in June and August 2012 and were extremely helpful.”
He said the process was ongoing.
He said the information gathered in the second phase put the commission in a much better position to commence with the public hearings.—SAPA.
Online Reporter