Civil Society groups Corruption Watch (CW) and the Right2Know Campaign (R2K) announced on Thursday that they would challenge the findings of the Seriti Commission in the North Gauteng High Court in September.

The commission, chaired by Judge Willie Seriti, was tasked with investigating widespread allegations of corruption in South Africa's arms deal.

The organisations said in a joint statement that they aimed to ensure that of “one of the worst examples of corruption in South Africa’s history will not be whitewashed”.

Following a three-year investigation the commission found no evidence of corruption – despite massive volumes of evidence it had failed to look into during an investigation that cost the public over R100-million.

Millions of documents, collected and stored by the now disbanded Scorpions, went unexamined.
 
CW and R2K said the court application would be aimed at setting aside the findings on the basis that the commission did not carry out a proper investigation and had “simply accepted evidence which was presented to it by those who were involved in the arms deal, without questioning it or testing it”.

The organisations will not seek the establishment of a new enquiry but would limit relief to the setting aside of the commission's findings. 

Further, the organisations allege that the commission’s leadership was tainted from the start on account of procedural irregularities which included crucial information and documents being withheld from the public and from witnesses and participants. 

Vital witnesses were not called and witnesses seen as “critics” were hampered unfairly while several commission staff members had resigned in protest at the commission's conduct, the CW and R2K said.

Arms deal critics, represented by independent organisation Lawyers for Human Rights, withdrew their participation, contending that they had been treated unfairly.

The civic organisations contend that the commission did not conduct the inquiry in accordance with its mandate, and that serious procedural irregularities undermined the credibility of its findings.