Aanbieder : Die Minister van Verdediging, Mosiuoa Lekota, is deur die Pretoria se Hooggeregshof beveel om dokumente, wat verband hou met die regering se wapentransaksie aan die maatskappy C²I² te oorhandig. Volgens C²I² se baas, Richard Young, sal die dokumente help met sy eis van honderd en vyftig miljoen rand. Young het in 2002 ‘n saak teen die Departement van Verdediging, Krygkor en African Defence Systems gemaak, nadat hy die tender verloor het. Young se maatskappy sou die vloot se Korvette van substelsels voorsien. Die tender is egter aan Thomson CSF toegeken. Young sê hulle wag nog vir verskeie dokumente van Lekota se kantoor.

Translation : The Minister of Defence, Mosiuoa Lekota, has been ordered by the Pretoria High Court to hand over documents relating to the government's arms deal to the company C²I². According to C²I² boss, Richard Young, the documents will help with his claim of one hundred and fifty million rand. Young opened a case in 2002 against the Department of Defence, Armscor and African Defence Systems after he lost the tender. Young’s company would have supplied subsystems to the navy’s corvettes. However, the tender was awarded to Thomson CSF. Young says they are still waiting on various documents from Lekota’s office.

Richard : The most important of which are tender documents and pricing schedules, as well as risk and price reports, that were done in the 1995 to 1998 time frame.

Aanbieder : Regsverteenwoordigers van die verdediging het gesê die minister moet maar die dokumentasie aan jou gee omdat hulle meen dat jy reeds al die dokumentasie gehad het en die wat hulle terug hou kan nie so groot verskil maak nie. Wat sê jy hieromtrent?

Translation : Legal representatives of the defence said the minister should give the documents to you since they are of the opinion that you already had all the documents and those that are being held back  cannot make such a big difference. What do you say about this?

Richard : That is complete and utter nonsense, because altogether we’ve put together a schedule of documents that were required. There were at least 52 different categories of which the Court Order required that approximately 30 different categories of documents should be given to us, so it is impossible on the objective facts that they could have come to a conclusion that I already had the documents. It’s an extremely dishonest motivation from the Department of Defence.

Aanbieder : Het julle al die dokumentasie gekry van hulle?

Translation : Have you received the documents from them?

Richard : I’ve received a small amount of documentation over the last four years, but none of it relating to the latest court action. The most important documents relate to costs and risks because  if one reads the Joint Investigation Report, it is clear that the Department of Defence based the overturning of our selection on costs and costs actually driven by what they call risks, risks that Thompson and ADS had determined almost unilaterally on the equipment whereas studies that were done in the middle to late nineties will show that there were indeed no overreaching residual risks involving our systems, our technology, and that these were dishonest attempts by both Thompson and ADS and thereafter by both Armscor and the Department of Defence to justify the overturning of the selection that had already been made.

Aanbieder : Dis nou dat jy die verkiesde tender gewees het?

Translation : That you were the preferred tenderer?

Richard : Yes, we were originally the selected contractor, that’s correct.

Aanbieder : Hoe ver is die verrigtinge nou? Gaan julle die dokumentasie kry? Wanneer verskyn julle weer voor die hof?

Translation : How far is the proceedings now? Are you going to get the documents? When are you appearing in court again?

Richard : We issued our Particulars of Claim in August 2002 and we’ve jumped through a number of legal hoops since then including successfully defending an Exception action brought by all the defendants, which we won on its merits at the beginning of last year. Because it’s a very complicated trial we want it set down for a, they call it a Special Item, and the first available date for a Special Item in the Pretoria High Court is the 16th of April next year. So we’ve set down for two consecutive court terms; that’s, so that is effectively six months next year.

Aanbieder : Wat is die uitkoms wat jy verwag van die hofverrigtinge?

Translation : What outcome do you expect from the court proceedings?

Richard : Well, it’s an action for damages, so it is basically a claim for both lost of expenses and loss of profits. So it’s a very large financial claim for the delict, that’s the civil wrongfulness caused by the unlawful deselection. So in total it’s a claim for R150 million plus interest.   

Aanbieder : Dit was dan Richard Young van die maatskappy C²I².

Translation : That was Richard Young from the company C²I².

With acknowledgements to Richard Young and RSG.