Arms deal value under review

Johannesburg - A review of the actual economic value generated by strategic defence procurement projects would be completed during the current financial year, The Star reported on Tuesday.

Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies told parliament that all national industrial participation programmes were being assessed.

According to The Star he acknowledged that usual departmental practice had been widely flouted when calculating offset credits to arms deal contractors.

Davies was responding to a question by Democratic Alliance defence spokesperson David Maynier.

According to the newspaper, Davies said the lion's share of arms deal offsets were approved as package deals. They were not measured against the actual economic performance of the companies' investments in the economy.

Maynier said afterwards the outcome of the review might give an understanding of the "full horror or the arms deal offset rip-off".