Suspended IFP MP Mandla Msomi will soon appear before a parliamentary committee hearing following his failure to answer questions relating to allegations that he received discounted vehicles through a company that benefited from the controversial arms deal.

Deputy chairman of the parliamentary ethics committee, Mabedle Mushwana, said parliament had written to Msomi, requesting answers on allegations that he had received massive discounts from European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company for his Mercedes-Benz E320 for which he paid R195 885; and a Colt Rodeo for which he paid R102 365.

The company is alleged to have sold the vehicles at a loss to Msomi.

"Lately, he came back to us to ask for more time to be able to respond. We extended the time, but that extension has passed now. What is likely to happen is that he will appear before a hearing because he is failing to answer some of the questions," said Mushwana. He said some of the questions the committee had asked centred on the discrepancy in Msomi's discounts.

"He will say I bought this car on such a date, but when you look at the invoice, the car was delivered a year later. You will find that the invoice was made at the time there were all these questions about the arms deal," Mabedle said.

Msomi was the chairman of the public enterprises portfolio committee when some of the major deals in the special defence procurement programme were clinched. At the time, Msomi denied ever dealing with EADS, saying he had bought his cars directly from Daimler-Benz before it changed to Daimler-Chrysler South Africa. He said it had been a straight-forward sale of used cars.

He could not be reached on Wednesday to comment on why he had not responded to the ethics committee's questions.

With acknowledgements to Xolisa Vapi and The Mercury.