The Arms Procurement Commission on Thursday called for submissions.

The call was gazetted on Wednesday, spokesman William Baloyi said.

Witnesses’ anonymity would be protected where necessary. Written submissions should be addressed to the chairman of the commission, at House A, Nzasm Court, Third Street, Salvokop, Pretoria 0002.

Initial investigations would be conducted in private, potential witnesses would be interviewed and documentary evidence obtained.

“By early November 2012, the commission should be in a position to commence with public hearings,” he said.

It was still premature to estimate the duration of the hearings, he said.

President Jacob Zuma appointed appeal court judge Willie Seriti as commission chairman last year.

High Court in Pretoria Deputy Judge President Willem van der Merwe and Judge Francis Legodi, of the same court, are the other two members of the commission.

In November, Zuma said he was himself prepared to give evidence.

The commission was formed to investigate allegations of fraud, corruption, impropriety and irregularity in the arms deal package signed in 1999. It has dogged South Africa’s politics since it was signed after the then Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille, who is now mayor of Cape Town, officially raised allegations of corruption relating to the deal in Parliament.