Former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni "remains a member unless during the course of the next three years, he is found guilty in a court of law or by the ANC of any offence," ANC spokesman Steyn Speed told AFP after the party's disciplinary committee imposed the five-year suspension.

The sanction comes amid renewed media interest in allegations against Deputy President Jacob Zuma, who is reported to be under investigation for accepting a bribe related to the controversial arms aquisition process.

Yengeni was sentenced to four years in prison in March after pleading guilty to fraud. He has been released on bail pending the outcome of an appeal.

As chairman of a parliamentary defence committee, Yengeni received a 47 percent discount on a luxury car from Daimler-Benz Aerospace, which was tendering to provide fighter aircraft as part of the weapons procurement deal.

"The National Disciplinary Committee (NDC) viewed Yengeni's contravention of the ANC Constitution -- by behaving in such a manner as to bring the ANC into disrepute, to which he had pleaded guilty -- as one of an extremely serious nature," the ANC said in a statement.

It said the five-year penalty would be suspended for three years on condition that Yengeni is not convicted of any offence during that time.

The 5.5-billion-dollar arms deal has drawn in several top politicians since 1999 when a member of parliament called for an investigation into claims of kickback payments.

German businessman Michael Woerfel, former Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG head in South Africa, was accused of fraud and corruption in the Yengeni case, but the charges were later dropped.

The latest reports on the arms scandal involve deputy president Zuma, who has been asked by the Scorpions, South Africa's equivalent of the FBI, to answer a series of questions related to the weapons deal.

Zuma's relationship with Thomson-CSF of France (now known as Thales), which is supplying equipment to the armed forces, is under investigation.

A Sunday newspaper reported allegations that Zuma tried to solicit 500,000 rand (68,000 dollars/59,000 euros) from Thomson-CSF. In return the deputy president allegedly offered to protect the company during subsequent investigations.

Zuma has fiercely denied the allegations.

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