At first glance, the public hearings on the arms deal, due to start in Pretoria next week, appear to be a good thing. The government will be bringing into the open one of the most damaging sagas since 1994. And the public will be given an opportunity to judge for themselves why " and how improperly " R50-billion was spent on a sophisticated defence package. Unfortunately, if one probes a little further, the hearings have few redeeming features. Instead they appear to be the result of anything from sloppy legal thinking to a sinister exercise to sabotage the main criminal investigation.

As the sun slips behind the jagged hills of the Transkei, Chief David Lingazwe surveys the land his family has farmed for hundreds of years. He smiles as he tucks a cell-phone into the folds of the traditional blanket he wears to keep out the evening chill. The chief's daughter Bonizwe has just given birth at a government hospital in Bizana, 60 km away. A year ago, Vodacom, one of Africa' biggest mobile technology players, installed a mast and base station in Amambisi village, ending isolation, but also bringing hope to this impoverished community of 30,000.