Parliament will not be able to take action against former transport minister Mac Maharaj for not declaring a R15 000 trip to Disneyland sponsored by Schabir Shaik.

Maharaj was no longer a member of parliament and could therefore not be disciplined by the institution, according to Luwellyn Landers, chairperson of the parliamentary committee on members' interests and ethics.

FirstRand Bank announced on Thursday that it had accepted Maharaj's resignation.

Landers also said the ethics committee, following a request from the registrar of members' interests, was in the process of reviewing a previous decision to destroy the records of MPs who had left parliament.

The decision to destroy the records was taken as far back as 1997 "because of a lack of space in the registrar's safe".

The committee's decision would largely be guided by the requirements of the new Promotion of Access to Information Act, while it was also in the interests of MPs to have their declarations kept on record even after they left parliament.

Meanwhile, opposition parties and commentators largely agreed in their assessment that Maharaj's political career of 50 years was over.

They also called for the fast-tracking of a debate around a "cooling-off" period for cabinet ministers before they entered business.

Gavin Woods from the Inkatha Freedom Party, one of the prime movers behind the investigation into the arms deal, was adamant that should Maharaj be found guilty "of inappropriately securing business from a government position, it would be a disgrace for him to ever re-enter politics".

Cape human rights activist Rhoda Kadalie said the rise and fall of Maharaj "must be a lesson to all of us".

She suggested that, like Allan Boesak, Maharaj had the "world at his feet, along with exceptional privileges, but fell because of money".

"People should not have a career in business or politics if they cannot control public or personal finances," Kadalie said.

But Smuts Ngonyama, African National Congress national spokesperson, said that while he could not comment on Maharaj's banking career, "he continues to be a member of the ANC, his political career is not over".

With acknowledgements to Christelle Terreblanche, Jeremy Michaels and The Mercury.