GUNS OR EDUCATION...GUNS OR AIDS...GUNS OR FOOD...

Many have said that were it not for the notorious arms deal, President Mbeki would still be in power, with possibly Mr Jacob Zuma beside him. Two old struggle friends, side by side, walking towards another landslide victory at Election 2009. But the leaders of the ANC had other plans. The arms deal, contrary to what you may have read or heard elsewhere, did not come as a result of greedy politicians trying to line their own pockets. That was just a byproduct. It came about as a result of ignorance and paranoia.

Back in the dark old days of evil apartheid, the state stayed in power not because the majority wanted it to. It stayed at the shaky top because it was able to put the fear of hell into people by using its available resources, that is the police force and the army. In other words, it used extensive, often deadly force to keep “the masses” in line. It was these forces that prompted the armed struggle, resulting in the formation of Umkhonto WeSizwe and later APLA and others. We are off to the bush, to Cuba, to the USSR (Russia) then, to learn army skills, guerilla tactics, survival instincts. After decades of this sort of conditioning, being told and taught that AK-47s are the only way to ascend into power, what else could be expected in 1990? And umshini wakhe…

If you remember when the violence that gripped our country so tightly in the early 1990s, you’ll recall it started in mid-1990. Dr Mandela had been out and about for a few months, people were excited about the future. Some more than others I’m sure. The ANC had in its collective mind that in order for order to prevail, they would have to get into power as quickly as possible and then seize these two armed forces as soon as possible. Moreover, the army was staffed and armed by old guns, bombs, land mines (Mozambique anyone?), pistols and the rest. The white people were not going to catch them unawares, and unarmed this time around. No ways. It was the most opportune time to acquire these weapons so as to consolidate the new government’s power, to solidify its position against the old enemy.

The old what? Wait a minute now, are we not a new, united country, all rainbow and all? Yes we are. But. But, but, but. That’s the story of Mzansi. So how about it? Shall we buy some weapons and beef up the squadrons? You know, in case we get attacked by Lesotho or Botswana or Zimbabwe or renegade white people…are you serious?!? The biggest “enemies” we were approaching were AIDS, unemployment, crime and lack of education. Anyone who has read any book relating to revolutionaries will know that after a revolutionary there is looting. After the looting, crime levels rise, the middle class whines, the upper class clamps up and either leaves the country or gets far wealthier than they were before the revolution (think of the bankers who fund BEE deals and the white “partners” who benefit from it). How the ANC’s think tanks did not see all this still amazes me.

The arms then, were meant to strengthen the new government. But what the new rulers did not count on was how financially vast this thing was, how involving it would be, and what sort of expertise it would require. Although MK soldiers were trained in ways of combat, they were not up to date with what was going on in the world of arms, and were therefore not mentally equipped to deal with the requirements of a new army. When it came to procuring, the experts, which were mostly the old apartheid generals, were executively excluded from participating. Worse, anyone with eyes to see could conceivably see himself/herself benefiting from the amounts to be spent. After all, the wealth of the country should be shared right? It cannot remain with the few rich white people. And so anybody with even a touch of a finger on the deal was interested in how he/ she could reap its financial rewards. Indeed, what are a few missing hundred thousand, or even a couple of millions and some “gifts”, compared to R46 billion? It’s nothing. It’s like a stolen cell phone in a squatter camp. Arms deals are the most corruption-prone deals any government can enter into. Countries like Saudi Arabia, Tanzania, the US, France, Iraq and Britain all currently have or have had at least one major scandal involving the procurement of national defence weapons.

This now was effectively the beginning of what has become Mzansi’s most scandalous operation since the dawn of our freedom. The deal has negatively implicated a long list of senior politicians, including Mr Mbeki, the late Minister of Defence Joe Modise, ANC President Jacob Zuma and convicted ANC NEC member Tony Yengeni. Over the weekend the fallout from this arms deal claimed its most senior victim that any can claim; the CEO of the country.