Prsident Mbeki's leadership has come under criticism

The government has been accused of a cover-up - something it denies.

Correspondents say it has become one of the most highly charged issues facing President Thabo Mbeki's administration and has provided ammunition for wider criticism of his leadership.

The court, which has now adjourned until Tuesday, rejected an application for live television and radio broadcasts of the proceedings saying cameras would be an invasion of the privacy of the witnesses.

The hearing, to be presided over by a three-man panel, is expected to last two months and will dig deep into the financial and procedural details of the deal, South Africa's biggest arms transaction in seven years.

Only one of the accused has been publicly named so far - chief whip of the governing African National Congress Tony Yengeni, who played an important role in the committee awarding the contract.

'Whitewash'

Signed in 1999, the deal involves companies from Germany, Italy, Sweden, Britain, France and South Africa. Amongst the firms supplying weapons are Saab, BAE Systems and Thomson-CSF.

As part of the agreement, South Africa is supposed to receive inward investment of $13bn which the government says will create 65,000 jobs.

Opinion on the hearings remains divided, with supporters describing the inquiry as a genuine effort to provide background.

But critics dismiss it as a whitewash that could undermine and prejudice the three separate criminal investigations already under way.

The government of President Thabo Mbeki has been accused of attempting a cover-up - among others by ruling out using the country's most effective investigation unit in the probes which have been set up.

The government says the armed forces urgently need modernisation, but opponents say the country cannot afford it, and the money would be better spent elsewhere.