Cape Town. Parliament's registrar of members' interests, Fazela Mohamed, has recommended a further parliamentary probe of how African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Tony Yengeni acquired his luxury MercedesBenz car.

Her call, following Yengeni's refusal to supply the parliamentary ethics committee with an explanation she found to be adequate, stirred divisions between the opposition and the ANC on the committee yesterday.

ANC MP Jeremy Cronin suggested that the investigation be left in the hands of the multi-agency probe into the arms deal, while Democratic Party chief whip Douglas Gibson and Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille wanted Yengeni to be summoned before the committee to explain himself.

Mohamed reported to the committee yesterday that the acquisition of the car did not appear to be a "normal business transaction" and that Yengeni's response was "not sufficient to determine the facts".

She said: "The allegations cannot be dismissed as unfounded as, on the face of it, it appears that there may be some substance to the report."

The committee's probe of allegations that Yengeni was given the luxury car as a sweetener in the R43bn arms deal is shaping up as a crucial test for Parliament and its ability to publicly maintain ethical standards.

Richard Calland, programme manager for the political information and monitoring service at Idasa, said: "Recent events suggest that the ANC's parliamentary party is willing to put shortterm party political capital ahead of a longer-term constitutional investment."

Meanwhile, Victor Halberstadt, chairman of the DaimlerChrysler international advisory board which met for two days of talks in Cape Town this week, said yesterday he had no knowledge of or interest in the scandal, as the board did not concern itself with local politics.

DaimlerChrysler is a shareholder in European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, which has admitted that it facilitated special deals on MercedesBenz vehicles to a number of high-profile South Africans, including Yengeni.

With acknowledgment to Wyndham Hartley, Tamar Kahn and Business Day.