De Lille on Seriti judgment: ‘I have been vindicated'
Minister of Public Works Patricia de Lille has hailed the Seriti Commission ruling, saying it has vindicated her.
Judge President Dustan Mlambo handed down a scathing judgment on the work of the commission, which probed the controversial arms deal, in the high court in Pretoria on Wednesday.
Mlambo set aside the commission’s report as it failed to comprehensively investigate the arms deal.
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The commission, which was set up in 2011, ran over four years and cost the taxpayer close to R140 million, found no corruption into the arms deal.
De Lille took to Twitter on Wednesday afternoon, reaffirming her stance that the commission was a waste of taxpayers' money.
"I have been vindicated. In April 2016, I said that the Seriti Commission’s Arms Deal ‘findings’ was no surprise and an utter waste of taxpayers’ money.
"The Seriti Commission was a whitewash and the outcome was decided long before the Commission started," she said.
Corruption Watch, which was one of the civil organisations which brought the application, welcomed Mlambo's findings.
While it is not calling for the rerun of the commission, the organisation believes the judgment will set a precedent for the conduct of future commissions of inquiry.