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Yesterday the Democratic Alliance (DA) received a reply from President Jacob Zuma to a parliamentary question that asked whether he would appoint an independent Commission of Inquiry into the arms deal. The President's response was encouraging and was as follows:

"The President requires some time to consider work that has already been done and that which is currently underway at a government level and also by Parliament. In light of these processes that are underway we would not like to pre-empt the outcome. It will only be possible to determine whether an Inquiry is warranted or not after all facts before him are carefully and objectively studied. This will happen as soon as Parliament and the National Prosecuting Authority conclude their work on the matter. The President will at that point make public his decision which will be shared with all interested parties."

President Zuma's response is a welcome deviation from the stance taken by former President Mbeki and former President Motlanthe who both rebuffed all requests to appoint such an Inquiry. It is our sincere hope that his response is not simply empty rhetoric, but a sign of real commitment to fighting and exposing corruption.

That said, there are a few problems with the President's response. Chief among these is his contention that "all the facts" need to be presented to him before he reaches a conclusion. Given that the very purpose of a Commission of Inquiry is to uncover all the facts, it is unfeasible to expect them all to be presented to the President beforehand. Indeed, that would defeat the very purpose of such an Inquiry in the first place.

Further, there is no shortage of evidence as things stand, all of which strongly suggests the need for such an Inquiry. It is no longer the time to consider what evidence is available, but to weigh up the existing evidence and pursue leads by subpoenaing witnesses.

Finally, neither the NPA, nor Parliament has the ability to carry out an investigation to the extent or depth that a formal Commission of Inquiry can.

Despite the ANC's repeated attempts to try to sweep the arms deal under the carpet the allegations of power abuse and corruption have not gone away, instead the evidence against former and present government leaders keeps on mounting.

This has resulted in a growing list of stakeholders calling for an Inquiry to be appointed including:

Formal requests from the DA;
Formal requests by Nobel Peace laureates Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and former president FW de Klerk, as well as other prominent members of civil society;
the Independent Panel who were commissioned to assess Parliament; and
The Pietermaritzburg High Court ruling on 12 September 2008.

The DA believes it is time for all those implicated in the arms deal scandal to finally face the full force of the law and we therefore urge President Zuma to do what his predecessors have failed to do in the past which is to appoint a judicial Commission of Inquiry headed by a judge of impeccable reputation and with full powers of subpoena, to fully investigate every aspect of the arms deal.

During his State of the Nation address President Zuma made the following commitment: "working together with all South Africans, we will intensify the fight against crime and corruption."

The DA believes, by appointing a Commission of Inquiry, the President would be acting to remove the black mark that has been left by the arms deal on our country's leadership and on our democracy and, in doing so, would be upholding his commitment.

The DA will also continue using every means at our disposal including our membership in Parliament to pursue this matter further so that all South Africans can get closure on this issue.