Inquiry clears S. Africa government

President Mbeki's government has been cleared of any wrong doing

CAPE TOWN, S. Africa -- President Thabo Mbeki and his government have been cleared of impropriety in a court case involving arms sales.

A report issed by three government agencies on Thursday reported a series of flaws in the negotiation and award of South Africa's biggest arms deal, but said "no evidence was found of any improper or unlawful conduct by the government."

The joint statement was made by the Public Protector, National Director of Public Prosecutions and Auditor General.

National Prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka said police would act within 24 hours against people found to have profited from their involvement in the contract awards.

But he added: "It is evident that the perception of widespread corruption within the government is without justification."

The investigators said fair and competitive procurement procedures were violated, certain bidders were given "unusual" latitude and evaluation procedures were not consistently and diligently applied.

They said some people involved in the process had accepted favours.

The investigators tabled 15 recommendations to tighten tender and evaluation procedures.

They also proposed that high-ranking officials involved in contract negotiation should be constrained from taking private sector jobs in those industries for a specific period of time.

The 380-page report was dealing with allegations of corruption in the award last year of fighter, helicopter, corvette and submarine contracts worth 66 billion rand ($6.8 billion) to companies in Britain, Sweden, Germany and Italy.

Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said the government accepted the report and told Reuters news agency: "The decisions of the acquisition process stand. There will be no further review."

The opposition Democratic Party and the United Democratic Movement boycotted the presentation of the report, saying it had been manipulated and was not in line with parliamentary rules.