Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said it would be suicidal to reveal what he told the National Prosecuting Authority's section 28 inquiry in 2001, saying he was not a "suicide bomber".
Maharaj was responding to questions at the National Press Club in Pretoria yesterday, following the Mail & Guardian's revelation last week that he lied to the NPA during the secret inquiry into the multimillion-rand arms deal saga.
The Sunday Times reported at the weekend that Maharaj and his wife, Zarina, received millions of rands in kickbacks related to the arms deal.
"I went though the process by the set of rules in our law books and I abide by those rules and those rules linked [section] 28 and [section] 41. Section 41 was to assure that the person appears under section 28 . If you ask the question: will I change the rules for myself [to make the information public] you are asking me to be a sacrificial lamb deliberately. I am not a suicide bomber and I have never been a suicide bomber. I think it is unfair," he said.
He said it would amount to changing the rules after a match had already been played.
Armed with the copy of the Bill of Rights, which he occasionally waved, Maharaj said section 28 of the National Prosecution Act took away some of a person's critical rights.
"It took away the right to remain silent. You go there [section 28 inquiry] and you have no right to remain silent. It took away the right not to answer questions that would be self-incriminating ... it traded it off and said subject yourself to those rules and therefore what you say will not be used in a court of law against you. Secondly, it will not be divulged even if it mentioned [to somebody else] without the permission of the National Prosecuting Authority," he said.
Maharaj refused to say whether he received money.
He said this information was in the hands of the now-defunct Scorpions, which had concluded there was no charge.
Maharaj's criminal charges against the M &G newspaper will be investigated by the Hawks, police said yesterday . - Additional reporting by Sapa
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