Chippy Shaik test for arms inquiry

Former arms procurement chief Shamim "Chippy" Shaik will be questioned tomorrow about his role in the multibillion-rand arms deal.

Shaik was intimately involved in the deal - dogged for years by allegations and evidence of corruption - to equip the defence force with frigates, submarines, jet aircraft and helicopters.

He was accused of, but not charged with, allegedly negotiating a $3-million bribe related to the purchase of four frigates from Germany.

His wife was employed at African Defence Systems, a company awarded a lucrative contract to supply combat systems aboard the vessels.

The interrogation of his evidence in Pretoria this week will be a litmus test for the credibility of the Seriti Commission of Inquiry - appointed by President Jacob Zuma to investigate the arms deal.

The inquiry has been described as a whitewash by arms deal critics.

Rear Admiral Jonathan Kamerman told the inquiry earlier that Shaik did not influence the selection of frigates or the combat systems.

Shaik declined to comment when contacted by phone on Friday.

He left the Department of Defence in 2002 after being found guilty of leaking confidential documents, and became involved in business ventures outside the country.

His brother Schabir was convicted of corruption and fraud in connection with a bribe from a French arms firm for Zuma.

Arms deal inquiry spokesman William Baloyi said Chippy Shaik would be represented by a state attorney but could retain his own legal counsel.

He has kept a low profile since being unmasked by the Sunday Times in 2007 for having a fake mechanical engineering doctorate. The 217-page thesis was ridden with errors and extensively plagiarised the work of international professors.

He was subsequently stripped of the doctorate by the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Chippy's other brother, Moe, was involved in "exposing" former national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka as an apartheid spy - a claim later proved to be false by a commission of inquiry.

He went on to head the South African Secret Service.