OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Wednesday
THE chief whip of South Africa’s ruling party has dug in his heels over allegations that he was given a car by a company involved in a $5.5bn arms deal, a report to parliament showed on Tuesday.
Parliament’s ethics committee received a report from the registrar of MPs’ assets confirming that Tony Yengeni’s acquisition of the Mercedes Benz four-wheel drive “was not a normal business transaction” but added that he had failed to explain how he had obtained the vehicle.
Yengeni, the chief whip of the African National Congress (ANC), told the registrar that the car was not a gift and challenged anyone who disputed this to prove otherwise.
Allegations of impropriety in the deal, which will see South Africa buy vessels and aircraft from German, French, Swedish and British companies and has been rumoured to be riddled with corruption, are the subject of probes by three state agencies.
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace confirmed in April that Yengeni’s car was bought by a senior staff member and registered in Yengeni’s name three days later.
It also acknowledged that it “rendered assistance” to some 30 VIPs to obtain vehicles.
The company was eventually incorporated into the multi-national European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS), which was awarded a subcontract to supply naval tracking radar as part of the arms deal.
The Sunday Times newspaper exposed details of the alleged dealings between Yengeni and DaimlerChrysler Aerospace.
Yengeni’s fellow ANC MP Jeremy Cronin said on Tuesday: “Some kind of further investigation must occur so that we can get to the bottom of this.”
The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) added that Yengeni had “defied the committee, two fingers in the air.”
But while the DA demanded that parliament launch a full investigation into the matter, the ANC wants to leave it to the three government agencies already investigating the arms deal.
The investigation began in January after the opposition charged that the government appeared to be covering up corruption, and the investigators are due to report to parliament in July.
Yengeni formerly chaired parliament’s defence committee, which played a key role in the government’s controversial decision to upgrade the post-apartheid military. – AFP
ZA*NOW:
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