The government has reacted with 'astonishment' to questions raised by MP Patricia de Lille’s relating to President Thabo Mbeki's role in the arms procurement process.

In a statement, it said that the former Pan Africanist Congress politician, who recently established a new political party known as the Independent Democrats, had regurgitated "baseless allegations" that reflected a misunderstanding of the course of events in the bidding process.

De Lille asserted that there was a government short-list in 1995 for the acquisition of submarines, in which a German bid was not "originally" included.

She also called for Mbeki role in the the arms deal to be probed.

However, government said that even cursory research would have indicated that in 1995 the Defence Review had not been adopted by government and Parliament.

This Review, adopted in 1997, dealt with such matters as force design and broad requirements of equipment; and it served as a basis for the acquisition process.

"What de Lille either does not know - because her informants may not have told her - or what she chooses to ignore, is that there was an attempt on the part of the leadership of the South African Navy to acquire corvettes, which was rejected by Cabinet in May/June 1995," the government said, adding that there was no decision then to acquire any such weapons nor was there any bidding or short-list.

The statement added that investigations currently being undertaken related to some secondary contracts; and, in any case, there has not been any suggestion anyone under investigation had any influence on the Inter-Ministerial Committee which took the final decisions on this matter.

It went on to say that "most of the information being peddled" originated from some of the companies which lost out in the bidding process, possibly assisted by intelligence agencies.

"We have expected all along that this kind of campaign would be waged against our country, to try and change the strategic and technical choices that our government has made on defence matters.

"What we did not expect however are the depths to which some political leaders would sink to court publicity, the recklessness with which they will regurgitate information without checking the facts, and the ease with which some individuals will allow themselves to be manipulated," it concluded.