Parliament has illegally destroyed confidential papers, among them documents crucial in the probe of gifts made to Mac Maharaj.

The former transport minister and his wife Zarina are being investigated by the Scorpions for allegedly receiving hundreds of thousands of rands from controversial Durban businessman Schabir Shaik, Deputy President Jacob Zuma's financial adviser.

An investigation by Independent Newspapers revealed yesterday that the confidential records of the register of members' interests were shredded - despite a decision by the committee that they "be kept on the same basis as other confidential records of government".

The registrar of members' interests, Fazela Mahomed, who is responsible for the safekeeping of the documents, earlier gave the impression that the confidential section of the register had been destroyed in line with a committee decision taken as far back as 1997.

On Monday, Mahomed said the committee made the decision in 1997 and all confidential records from 1996, when the register first started, to 1998 had been destroyed after the 1999 elections.

"From 1999 onwards we have all the records, and the public record from 1996 is available," Mahomed said.

But it has come to light that while the committee had in fact discussed destroying the documents, the actual minutes of the meeting where the final decision was taken show that the records should have been kept.

Background documents to a discussion by the committee on members' interests - now known as the ethics committee - on March 12 1996 show that the committee, under the chairmanship of Kader Asmal, contemplated destroying the documents.

A discussion on the "disposal of records" considered a proposal that:

"Records of persons who have ceased to be members: To be shredded one year after termination of membership of parliament."

However, discussing the same matter on August 19 1997, the committee decided:

"On the proposal of the chairperson, the committee resolved that a member's public records on the register would be preserved after he/she had resigned from office for as long as it is required and that the confidential records be kept on the same basis as other confidential records of government."

Maharaj, who resigned from the FirstRand group of companies last week, has been unable to verify his claims that he declared more than R300 000 that Shaik paid to his wife, apparently in lieu of work done by her consultancy.

The Scorpions are investigating Maharaj and his wife over the money and a trip to Disneyland, both of which they received from Shaik's company, Nkobi Holdings. Maharaj did not declare the Disneyland holiday in the public section of the register, as he should have done.

Asked to comment, National Assembly Speaker Frene Ginwala said she had been led to believe that the committee had decided to shred the documents, but discovered yesterday that the minutes of the meeting did not reflect such a decision.

Ginwala said there clearly was confusion about exactly what the committee's decision was, but judging from the documentation before her, it appeared that the committee had not actually decided to destroy the records.

"We will have to find out what is going on - obviously there needs to be an investigation, and I have ordered that," she said.

With acknowledgements to Jeremy Michaels and The Star.