Not satisfied with the good deal he received from a company being investigated for alleged bribes to politicians, Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) MP Mandla Msomi wanted to squeeze even more benefits from them.

Msomi, given two luxury vehicles at a discount, wanted the company to pay for most of their running costs as well.

This emerges in a letter from suspended European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS) managing director Michael Woerfel to Msomi, written in July 1999 - a few months before Cabinet gave the thumbs-up to the now controversial arms package - when Msomi was still chairman of the key parliamentary public enterprises portfolio committee.

Msomi, who earns over R300,000 a year as an MP, had wanted EADS - now assisting state investigating agencies with a probe into discounted and speeded delivery of vehicles provided to top politicians, including ANC Chief Whip Tony Yengeni - to pay for ongoing repairs and services.

He apparently thought he was entitled not only to the discount of about R80,000 which he received on the vehicles, but also a one-year free warranty on the Mercedes Benz E320 and a Colt he bought in December 1998.

He has acknowledged buying the cars for R102,365 - below the EADS stated client purchase price of R125,892.11 - and the Mercedes for R195,885. In a list of EADS-provided vehicles, it indicated that the normal price was R250,000.

While Msomi says that these were "normal market prices" and is emphatic that he had no knowledge that EADS wanted to bribe him or gain influence in favour of the arms deal, he nevertheless expected more from them.

But EADS said no. In a letter directed to "Dear Mandla" - two years before Msomi told I-Net Bridge that he did not know why his name appeared on a list of EADS beneficiaries of vehicles - Msomi was told by Woerfel that the cars had been sold to him "voetstoots (as is) and at an extremely good price".

The letter adds that there had been an agreement "that the payment for the first check-ups only would still be carried by us (EADS)". But it objected to the fact that Msomi expected EADS - then known as DaimlerChrysler Aerospace - to pay for more than that.

Official opposition Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson, who was leaked the letter from Woerfel, says that Msomi "must explain himself, as he had stated that the purchase of the vehicles was a normal transaction" - something which he said both to INet Bridge and to a subsequent national council meeting of the IFP in Ulundi.

Gibson asks how Msomi could have thought that EADS would pay for ongoing service.

Gibson said it had also not been explained why EADS was in the retail car market, "and the suspicion clearly is that they were doing favours for prominent politicians in the hope of creating goodwill in respect of the tender in the arms deal".

EADS spokesperson Karine Grossman declined to comment on the details of why Woerfel and Msomi had corresponded with each other - or why her company was involved in the car trade at all.

In a written statement, she said that all details of vehicles involving assistance by EADS "with a discount or speeded delivery have been supplied to the investigators" into the arms deal.

As the investigation was ongoing, "it cannot be our task at this stage to comment or to conduct parallel discussions in public on our submissions".

A report by three agencies investigating alleged arms deal corruption is expected in about three weeks, according to Auditor-General Shauket Fakie.

IFP Chief Whip Koos van der Merwe said he had looked at the Woerfel letter. He had made inquiries, which "show that Mr Msomi acquired the two vehicles at more or less market-related prices". There was no evidence that he had received bribes, said Van der Merwe.

WORDING OF THE LETTER:

Dated July 7, 1999, the letter from Michael Woerfel, then president of the South African branch of DaimlerChrysler Aerospace (the predecessor company of EADS), is headlined:

"Re: Car purchase from Daimler Chrysler Aerospace".

It is directed to "Dear Mandla", and reads:

"We hereby confirm to you, that the vehicles sold to you were sold to you voetstoots and at an extremely good price, with the agreement thereafter being made that the payment for the first check-ups only would still be carried by us.

"However, there was no agreement that Dasa (EADS) would pay for ongoing services and repairs or that of a one-year free warranty.

"Kindly inform McIntosh Motors (a Pretoria Mercedes agent), that forthcoming invoices will be settled by you directly.

"Many thanks for your understanding and co-operation."

It is signed: "Kind regards, M Woerfel".  

With acknowledgment to Donwald Pressly, INet Bridge and News24.