LETTER: Trevor Manuel should take principled stance against arms deals
The former finance minister signed the BAE loan agreement and should now join litigation to have it set aside
Frans Cronje is right on the money with his criticisms of the mealy-mouthed position taken by Trevor Manuel in his recent speech (“Manuel had a hand in the policies that led us to where we are”, March 16).
He might have added that it was Manuel who signed the loan agreements underpinning the arms deals in 1999, the “original sin” of the ANC that led to the culture of grand corruption with impunity that has blighted SA ever since. Not only was Manuel not prepared to put the loans to parliament for the special resolution required in terms of the Public Finance Management Act, he instead took dodgy advice that he could move rapidly under the old, and soon to be repealed, Exchequer Act to negotiate the loans without parliamentary consent. The loans are actually invalid and ought to be set aside as such...
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