Although former transport minister Mac Maharaj has quit the FirstRand board amid controversy over alleged payments made to him by Durban businessman Schabir Shaik, he has no plans to quit the business sector.

Maharaj says his life "won't end with me leaving FirstRand" and JSE Securities Exchange SA-listed software specialist Softline says Maharaj will stay on as a director on its board.

The controversy over Maharaj has re-awoken the debate on whether government employees who head into business after politics should have a "cooling-off period" before they embark on private sector activities.

Maharaj quit as transport minister in 1999 to take up the FirstRand job, saying that despite the absence of rules governing the transition of politicians to the private sector, he would not enter the transport industry.

For Maharaj, however, the allegations have cast a stain on his reputation which unlikely to be removed until the Scorpions decide whether to charge him.

Maharaj said he welcomed the debate on the "swing-door" and the "cooling-off period".

FirstRand's subsidiary, Rand Merchant Bank, was one of the major financiers of the N3 toll road project. The contracts were awarded while Maharaj was transport minister.

FirstRand CEO Laurie Dippenaar said a Deloitte & Touche investigating team found nothing to indicate anything of substance in allegations that it won the contract due to Maharaj's influence. But it sparked debate over whether Maharaj should have joined FirstRand in the first place.

The former minister said there were only a few top banks with enough funds to finance a project on the scale of the N3 toll road project, so FirstRand one of SA's big four banks was likely to get involved in any event.

He also said that the process of deciding on the winning bidders of the project was not under his control.

Maharaj said rules and conventions should be drawn up governing the moving of government officials to the private sector. But when they are put in place, they must not be impossible to implement.

Dippenaar said earlier that the business arena was full of potential conflicts of interest the trick was to "recognise them and manage them".

The Democratic Alliance (DA) said that it supported the call for a cooling-off period for cabinet ministers.

DA chief whip Douglas Gibson said he would table a Private Members' Bill proposing such a period "to prevent the doors of cabinet from turning into a revolving door leading to lucrative business appointments".

A problem with a blanket cooling-off period is that it prevents departing government officials from earning money until they are allowed to work.

One way of avoiding this was giving them a "restraint" payment when they left government's employ. FirstRand chairman GT Ferreira pointed out that the prospect of being without a salary during a cooling-off period may deter skilled government officials from taking up a position in the business sector.

This was especially problematic at a time when there was a greater need than before for empowerment partners to help transform the complexion of the private sector.

Despite Maharaj's previous lack of business acumen, Ferreira said that he had "more than fulfilled" his role as a nonexecutive director with FirstRand.

The former transport minister sat on a number of forums and played a prominent role in the bank to the extent that advocate John Myburgh recommended in his corporate governance review of banks that Maharaj's status be elevated to that of an executive.

Maharaj had very little involvement in business when he joined FirstRand. He said he earned his first pay cheque only in 1994, when he became transport minister.

But he is skilled at negotiating and arbitration, which is useful in the business sector. Maharaj played a key role in the negotiations that led the way to SA's first democratic elections.

His skills led to his appointment as commander of Operation Vula, a top secret African National Congress (ANC) mission to establish structures inside SA before it was unbanned in 1990.

Maharaj was in exile for 12 years after serving 12 years in Robben Island, along with ANC stalwarts such as Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki.

While the Maharaj case has again highlighted the need to address the "swinging door" between government and business, the business sector would be all the poorer should the skills of former government leaders be placed off-limits to it.

With acknowledgements to Rob Rose, Xolani Xundu and the Business Day.