How Much will Purchases cost? 

The Auditor-General Shauket Fakie's special report to Parliament (15 September 2000) suggested that  generally-accepted procurement practices in setting up the deal and selecting sub-contractors were not followed.

The report released by the public accounts committee seems to indicate that Cabinet was aware of the fact that the deal would cost more than R29 billion way back in September 1999 when the package was first sold to Parliament as "a bargain basement" deal.

As a result, loans of up to R48 billion were negotiated with several foreign banks, including Societe Generale of France, Italian bank Medico Centrale,  & a consortium led by Commerzbank of Germany.The largest of the loans of about $3bn is from a consortium led by Barclays Bank of the UK, which was to finance the purchase of Hawk jet trainers and Grippen fighter aircraft. 

The loans were negotiated for a period of 15 to 20 years, although the equipment was to be delivered in seven years.

The proposed audit would involve establishing whether, officials and ministers involved in the deal had conflicts of interest in the group of primary & sub-contractors attached to the deal, which they did not declare. It would also look into  whether  the deal would yield counter-trade & job creation (otherwise known as offsets) worth R100bn.  - SABC News research by Lisa Costa Mendes