Twenty-five VIPs received a total of 33 vehicles from the European Aeronautics Defence and Space Company (EADS) at special discounts, according to a list published by the Star newspaper today.

Only two recipients of the luxury vehicles have their full names published. They are defence force head Siphiwe Nyanda and ANC Chief Whip Tony Yengeni.

Nyanda is reported to be the first individual to have received a vehicle under the special and secret dispensation. Also contained in the list are the surnames of prominent business people.

There is strong suspicion that recipients of the vehicles played a part in influencing the outcome of the bidding process in terms of which local and international companies placed proposals to equip the South African defence force as outlined in the multi-billion rand arms procurement deal.

Leading government figures including Trade and Industry Minister Alec Erwin have told public hearings convened to shed light on alleged irregularities surrounding the deal that it was impossible for individuals to influence decisions regarding who ultimately won a contract to supply armaments.

But increasing evidence - published in the Star today - indicates that some of the vehicles were acquired by EADS and forwarded to some of the VIPs at a lower price than EADS had purchased them from DaimlerChrysler SA.

In the case of Yengeni, who was the chairperson of Parliament's joint standing committee on defence at the time, EADS bought the car, a Mercedes ML320, for R307 458 and sold it to Yengeni for R182 563. This has led to questions as to why EADS opted to absorb the loss if its motive was not to influence its bid in the deal.

The government purchased German submarines, Italian helicopters, British and Swedish aircraft and four new corvettes in terms of the deal, whose cost initially was R30-billion in 1999 but is now expected to have ballooned to about R43-billion.

Eads is an amalgamation of defence and aeronautics companies, including DaimlerChrysler’s wholly owned subsidiary DaimlerChrysler Aerospace. It has a stake in the arms deal through its shares in Reutech, which won a contract for the radar systems for the navy's new corvettes.

The offices of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), the Public Protector (PP) and the Auditor-General (A-G) are all probing the alleged misconduct and impropriety.  

With acknowledgment to iafrica.com.

The VIP Car List can be viewed with acknowledgement to the Cape Times, published 2001-07-02.