The repetition of wrong advice he was given at the time does not prevent former finance minister Trevor Manuel from talking through his hat in the column you accorded him on October 12. His signature on the foreign loans taken to finance the arms deals was invalidly and illegally appended. Here’s why: the rule of law and its doctrine of legality require that public functionaries only do what the law allows them to do.
The old Exchequer Act did not authorise a finance minister to borrow offshore for procurement purposes. The Public Finance Management Act requires a special resolution of parliament to do so, and no such resolution was ever passed. Accordingly, Manuel had no right to sign. The law did not allow him to go shopping for the best available loans like a housewife in a supermarket seeking the lowest-priced produce. Public money cannot be dealt with in that way. He was only entitled to do what the law allowed him to do; taking the loans as the “best available” was beyon...
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