A top corruption buster was reported yesterday to have sought the backing of Nelson Mandela after South African President Thabo Mbeki blocked him from investigating alleged corruption in a 43 billion rand (£3.7bn) arms deal involving Britain.
The Sunday Independent, a South African sister paper of The Independent, and South Africa's Sunday Times newspapers said Judge Willem Heath, head of a successful anti-corruption unit, had telephoned Mr Mandela for backing after Mr Mbeki blocked him from investigating alleged corruption in the foreign arms deal.
The contract, signed in December 1999, involving arms firms in Britain, Germany, Italy, Sweden, France and South Africa, is supposed to generate investments worth 104 billion rand (£9bn) and create 65,000 much-needed jobs. But allegations of bribery have surrounded the deal, and a preliminary study by the auditor-general last year called for a more detailed audit after finding serious flaws in procedure.
Source: The Independent
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