'99 Arms Deal Returns to Haunt S. Africa's Top Leaders

JOHANNESBURG-- A decision by the African National Congress this week to investigate a murky, multibillion-dollar arms deal has reopened a deeply divisive affair that has dogged the government of President Thabo Mbeki and his onetime deputy Jacob Zuma for nearly a decade.

The 1999 purchase of fighter jets, frigates and other heavy armaments from several European firms repeatedly violated basic procurement procedures, with the final selections of contractors sometimes running contrary to the advice of top military officials, according to news reports and other accounts. And when the controversy first developed, Mbeki and his political allies fought strenuously to limit the investigations, the reports say.

The unanswered questions about the deal have returned to the forefront of South African politics in recent months, grabbing newspaper headlines while exerting a potentially profound influence on the fate of the country's most powerful politicians. In peril are Mbeki's legacy after two terms as South Africa's president and Zuma's bid to succeed him in 2009.

"The reason that it continues to bedevil South African politics, and this is where Thabo Mbeki was absolutely crucial, is that they were prepared to undermine the institutions of democracy to protect themselves from a proper investigation of the arms deal," said Andrew Feinstein, a former ANC member of Parliament who quit in 2001 to protest the party's handling of the deal. "And a number of those institutions have never recovered, including Parliament."

The arms deal is at the center of criminal charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering against Zuma, who unseated Mbeki as leader of the ANC last month. Zuma's allies have long maintained that the allegations against him are less serious than those that potentially could be leveled against Mbeki, who headed a committee that made crucial decisions about which arms dealers won contracts.

In his recent book, "After the Party: A Personal and Political Journey Inside the ANC," Feinstein describes a meeting in November 2000 in which Mbeki's closest aide and lifelong friend, Essop Pahad, angrily asked Feinstein why he was "questioning the integrity of the government, the ministers and the president."

Soon after that, party leaders removed Feinstein from the investigative committee, and he resigned from Parliament the following year. Mbeki also blocked a special anti-corruption unit led by a tenacious former judge from making its own inquiries.

The government investigation exonerated Mbeki and other officials, but Feinstein and others contend that Mbeki's office dictated an extensive, last-minute rewrite of the report.

Mbeki's spokesman, Mukoni Ratshitanga, cited that report this week in saying that the president did nothing improper during the arms deal and did not object to the party's investigation of the matter.

But many in South Africa's political community say the party's action shows that the ANC has turned against Mbeki less than a month after Zuma defeated him as leader. The investigative panel includes Zuma's deputy, Kgalema Motlanthe, and the party's treasurer general, Mathews Phosa.

"It's because of the infighting in the ANC that they really want to open this up again," said Patricia de Lille, leader of the opposition Independent Democrats and an early critic of the arms deal.

South African journalists have detailed links among Mbeki, his political allies and successful bidders. They include a December 1998 meeting in Paris between Mbeki and the top executives of one of the arms companies.

Ongoing investigations in Germany and Britain, home to successful bidders in the arms deal, have alleged there were millions of dollars in bribes, though prosecutors in those countries have not filed any charges.

Feinstein estimated that the bribes, kickbacks and other irregular payments totaled $200 million and said some of the money went to the ANC. Party leaders declined to say this week whether they would release the findings of their new probe.

South African prosecutors have focused mainly on Zuma and his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, who in 2005 was convicted of soliciting bribes for Zuma from a French arms dealer. Mbeki fired Zuma soon after Shaik was convicted, but prosecutors have run into repeated problems in pursuing Zuma himself. A court dismissed all charges against him in 2006 because of technical problems with the indictments.

Prosecutors refiled the corruption charges, along with 14 new ones, on Dec. 28, one week after he became head of the ANC. Zuma's lawyer and political allies have sharply criticized the timing of the new indictments, which they say result from a political vendetta.

The trial, due to start in August, is the most important obstacle Zuma faces in his bid to succeed Mbeki as South Africa's president. Zuma has packed key party committees with his allies, and party leaders this week said he will be the ANC's nominee for president. The ANC so dominates South African politics that the nominees of other parties would have little chance to beat him.

If Zuma is convicted on any of the charges rising from the arms deal, however, he would be ineligible to take the job.