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Arms
deal corruption suspects should not be dealt with in a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) manner, Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Sandra Botha said on Friday.
Writing in the DA leader's weekly newsletter, Botha urged South Africans to reject a TRC approach in dealing with arms deal suspects.
"South Africans must therefore unite to reject the proposal for a TRC-type process, and instead advocate for the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry.
"The DA maintains that nothing less than a judicial commission of enquiry, with full powers of subpoena, headed by a judge of impeccable reputation, is required as a matter of urgency to investigate the arms deal," she said.
The TRC proposal -- precipitated by an ANC decision earlier this year to establish an ad-hoc committee to investigate the arms deal -- was being presented as a viable option by certain commentators, as well as sections of the independent media.
"There is no doubt that it is the increased prevalence of this feature of national debate in South Africa today that has, disappointingly, led to a number of highly respected commentators and independent newspapers blindly endorsing the idea of a political rather than a judicial solution.
"The nub of the argument is that a political solution whereby amnesty should be granted to offenders in exchange for full disclosure exactly as took place as a result of the TRC hearings during the late 1990s is needed, since the alleged arms deal corruption is substantially a political problem," she said.
Adopting a process similar to the TRC would send out the wrong message that corruption was a glorified crime.
"Let us be quite clear about this: arms deal fraud equates to stealing from the taxpayer. This is nothing less than a criminal transgression that must be exposed and punished as such.
"To allow those implicated in the bribery and corruption surrounding the arms scandal to escape justice, and to undermine the principle of equal dispensation of the law, is a poor price to pay for getting at the facts," Botha said.
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