The Democratic Alliance has urged the 30 VIPs who were "helped" by an arms company to buy luxury vehicles to make full public disclosures. 

The DA also urged the chair of Parliament's ethics committee to make public ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni's reply on how he acquired a luxury 4X4 vehicle, and why he allegedly failed to disclose a residential property as an asset in the Register of Members' Interests. 

At the weekend the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) said it had "rendered assistance" to about 30 VIPs over the past three years to obtain vehicles. The company which is linked to Mercedes-Benz manufacturer DaimlerChrysler said the assistance included price discounts and speeding up delivery ahead of waiting lists. The VIPs were in the civil airlines, defence, electronic and related industries, and diplomatic and political fields, EADS said. 

DA chief whip Douglas Gibson said in a statement yesterday that the latest news demanded disclosure by those concerned. "A private individual can have private commercial matters; those who are paid by the public, however, need to make full disclosures of exactly how they acquired the vehicles. "The purchase price, the purchase date and proof of payment must be furnished." 

Gibson said he was not suggesting that all concerned were corrupt. "Some are no doubt not corrupt, but some may be. But any persons remotely involved with the arms purchase or with government must take the public into their confidence. "The voters are entitled to believe that their representatives are honest, and a full disclosure at this stage, not under subpoena, will go some way to reassuring the public," he said. 

Gibson said openness and transparency was also necessary in relation to Yengeni's reply to the ethics committee. "I therefore call on the chair to publish Mr Yengeni's response so that the public, who pay our salaries, will know how Mr Yengeni responded to the serious matters raised by the newspapers." 

Two weeks ago, the Sunday Times newspaper reported that Yengeni's 4X4 had been bought as a staff vehicle by EADS' predecessor, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. It also reported that a manager at EADS, Michael Lebling, had confirmed that his MD, Michael Woerfel, had instructed him to order a luxury car that was later registered in the name of Yengeni's wife Lumka on 5 January. 

With acknowledgment to iafrica.com.