By Malcolm Ray
In a surprise move that has unleashed widespread criticism, ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni broke his silence on his acquisition of a luxury 4x4 vehicle in a full-page advertisement - estimated to have cost R250 000 - in four Sunday newspapers.
In his first comprehensive public statement since the controversial arms procurement scandal, Yengeni denied allegations that he received his Mercedes-Benz 4x4 as a kickback to secure the awarding of one of the contracts in the R43 billion arms procurement deal.
But questions have been raised about the cost of the advert - amounting to more than half his annual salary of R409 108, and more than the cost of the vehicle that drew Yengeni into the arms scandal.
The ANC has denied any prior knowledge of the ad. "Both the ANC and government were not consulted. We don't know where he (Yengeni) sourced the funds for the advert," said ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama.
Democratic Alliance (DA) chief whip Douglas Gibson said the fact that Yengeni had seen fit to communicate with the country via a paid advert, warranted an answer about who paid for it.
Yengeni could not be reached on Sunday because his cellphone was off. His spokesperson has resigned.
In his statement, Yengeni said allegations that he had received the 4x4 as a bribe to further certain bidders' interests in the arms deal were untrue. He said allegations that he entered into a finance agreement with DaimlerChrysler Aerospace to cover up the fact that he received the vehicle as a gift were also untrue.
"I entered into a finance agreement with Mercedes-Benz Finance in February 1999, after being turned down by Stannic in January," he said, without explaining Stannic's stance.
But questions remain about why Yengeni did not declare the information to the Ethics Committee when he entered into the transaction.
Opposition parties said they were puzzled about why Yengeni chose to break his silence more than a year after allegations against him surfaced.
"He fails to state why he did not declare the benefit. His silence on this point shrieks for an answer," said Gibson.
PAC chief whip Patricia de Lille said she was "startled and surprised" that Yengeni failed to address his non-disclosure of assets to the Ethics Committee sooner.
"The majority position in the Ethics Committee was that we should wait for the outcome of the arms probe, and now he decides to go public, transgressing the procedure agreed upon," De Lille said.
Jeremy Cronin, member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ethics, said it still had to be established whether Yengeni's statement was a transgression of the rules and procedure agreed by the committee at Yengeni's request.
Cronin said besides giving Yengeni the benefit of the doubt for his failure to disclose annually property he owns in Tafelsig, the committee still had to hear Yengeni's response to allegations that he failed to declare benefits that might be linked to the arms probe.
"As things stand, Mr Yengeni stands accused of unbecoming behaviour for his (alleged) failure to declare benefits or gifts that amount to more than R350 and that might be linked to the arms probe."
Cronin said while the outcome of the arms probe would not affect the committee's verdict, he would have preferred Yengeni to have declared the information to the committee first.
In terms of the procedure, Cronin said, Yengeni was asked by the committee to account for his conduct as an MP but failed to do so pending the outcome of the arms probe by the joint investigating team.
"There were implications of his disclosure for the criminal investigation by the joint investigating team, which is why the majority position in the committee was that we would allow Mr Yengeni time to account for his conduct once the arms probe was complete. We did not want to compromise the actual investigation."
Reacting to initial allegations raised in the media against him on March 27, Yengeni told parliament that he was prepared to co-operate with the joint investigating team into the arms deal but would not respond through the media.
"At that stage I had been advised that it was not proper and appropriate to respond to unfounded allegations."
Yengeni said in the advertisement he decided to go public because of the frenzy and slander that followed his in camera interview by the Office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions on June 21. He accused the media and certain political parties of making "unsubstantiated accusations and innuendos".