Transall sale hits controvosy
Date: 8 January 2001
Top Armscor officials are likely to meet in Pretoria this morning to discuss reports of about R2 billion damages suit against the state armaments agency. This follows reports yesterday that two disgruntled US businessmen had given a local attorney a brief to launch the suit after a failed deal to purchase nine redundant C160 Transall transport aircraft from SA Air Force surplus.
A Sunday newspaper reported that Roy Segers and Richard Parker claimed the deal may have been stymied because Joe Modise, former Minister of Defence, and Ron Haywood, the current chairman of Armscor, wanted to put together their own deal to purchase the planes. Both Modise and Haywood vehemently denied the claims, the paper said. Segers and Parker alleged that in September 1998 they were about to then pay R2 billion for the French-built aircraft when they were told by a Boet van Staden that the planes were no longer for sale, on Modise's orders.
Some months later, after Modise had retired as minister, the two Americans were meeting financiers Incentive Corporate Finance to secure funding on another deal.They were surprised to be told that Modise and Haywood had just approached the same institution seeking to raise capital to buy, refit and refurbish the C160s, the paper said
Armscor is the procurement and disposal agency within the Ministry of Defence.
Meanwhile, the paper reported that a British company had won a tender, put out in May, to purchase the aircraft.
South African Broadcasting Corporation
