BAE-Saab arms deal:

New evidence links SAs former chief of staff to jet fighter commissions

open | 05 December, 2010

News paper Mail & Guardian disclosed on Friday that South Africa's former military chief-of-staff Siphiwe Nyanda bought his new home in the Johannesburg suburb of Bryanston in 1995 for money he borrowed from Ngwane Aerospace, an arms consultancy company that by then had received more than ZAR 50 million in commissions from BAe System/Saab's arms offset company Sanip.

The news paper writes that the link "may represent the first evidence of a senior decision-maker in the controversial arms deal benefiting from the R1-billion-plus in 'commissions' which British multinational BAE Systems spread around to grease its sale of military jets to South Africa."

Ngwane Aerospace is owned by Fana Hlongwane, the main known Government related beneficiary of arms deal commissions.

Hlongwane's payments however started ticking over a five year period after the arms deal was consumed. In total Ngwane Aerospace and another Hlongwane company, Hlongwane Consulting has received at least  ZAR 200 million in commissions according to documents optioned by the British Serious Frauds Office.

Hlongwane was adviser to deceased Defense Minister Joe Modise at the time of the jet fighter negotiations - negotiations the then Chief-of-Staff Sipiwe Nyanda had direct influence over.

During his time as the minister's right hand man Mr Hlongwane was the main intermediary between the arms companies and the minister. He was well known by Saab's staff on the ground as early as 1997 as he offered offset deals with the minister involved, one was close to be consumed before it was turned down last minute by ABB, and asked for favours such as discounted Saab cars.

Nyanda's laywyer Christo Stockenström states to Mail & Guardian that the loan from Ngwenya Aerospace was cancelled 11 May 2009, coinciding with Sipiwe Nyanda being sworn in as Jacob Zuma's new Communications minister.

Fana Hlongwane was not the official agent for the jetfighter deal, his commissions are instead linked to services rendered after the deal was done. The official agent was Richard Carter,  a British South Africa based business man who died in a canoe accident in 2004. His wife has since relocated back to the UK citing security fears.