AG MUST SET RECORD STRAIGHT: DA.

The Auditor-General Shauket Fakie must set the record straight regarding his interaction with the executive on the arms deal investigation, the Democratic Alliance said on Friday. DA public accounts spokeswoman Raenette Taljaard said her party had noted "with alarm" reports that suspended defence acquisitions chief Chippy Shaik was allowed to make changes to the AG's September 2000 report on the deal before it was submitted to Parliament. "The time has come for the Auditor-General in the interest of the stature of his office and its pivotal and independent role... to set the record straight in terms of the number of exchanges which he has had with the executive about the arms investigation... "Failure to do so will harm the standing of his office," she said. The Mail & Guardian reported on Friday that Shaik had been allowed to make significant changes to the AG's report, and in particular, to a clause regarding a contract his brother Schabir had an interest in. The 2000 report prompted Parliament's public accounts committee's (Scopa) decision to call for the multi-agency probe. The latest claim follows reports that the final arms deal report, released last week, was vetted before its formal tabling by President Thabo Mbeki and cabinet ministers in terms of the apartheid-era Special Defence Account Act. The deal was investigated by the AG, the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions and the Public Protector. The arms report found that Shaik had not recused himself properly from meetings dealing with tenders in which his brother, Schabir, had an interest and which saw a South African company CCII losing out. Chippy Shaik has since been suspended from his post by Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota for disclosing classified information, without authorisation. The Mail & Guardian says that before he released his ...