The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) on Tuesday said that Minister of Transport S'bu Ndebele should have refused the gift of a luxury Mercedes Benz vehicle worth over R1-million.

"Cosatu welcomes the news that he has asked President Jacob Zuma to make a ruling on whether he should accept the gift but believes that he should himself have refused to accept it," said Cosatu spokesperson Patrick Craven.

Craven said Cosatu has consistently argued that public representatives - Ministers, Members of Parliament and civil servants - should refuse on principle to accept gifts from commercial companies or anyone else who might benefit from government actions.

Ndebele, the former KwaZulu-Natal Premier and Transport MEC, was given the car on Saturday evening by contractors who had benefited from the province's Vukuzakhe programme.

The gesture was reportedly meant as thanks for Ndebele's role in creating a platform for small contractors in the province. Vukuzakhe was established in 1996 to help emerging contractors for road construction.

"Nothing is given for nothing, and whatever the reason the donor may give for making the donation, the reality is that it creates a conflict of interest," said Craven.

"The danger will always exist that the donor company will try to jump the queue when applying for government business, as a payback for their generosity," he said.

For the same reason all public representatives should resign from any positions in commercial companies, he said.

"We welcome Comrade Tokyo Sexwale's resignation from the companies in which he was involved," he said referring to the new Minister of Human Settlements who resigned from his position as executive chairperson of Mvelaphanda Group on taking up the Ministry.

Craven called on Zuma to set a precedent by refusing to sanction Ndebele's gift and making it clear his government would strictly enforce the rules on gifts and not allow any of its members to accept donations which would compromise their independence.

In addition to the car, Ndebele received a plasma screen TV, two cows and petrol vouchers.

The Democratic Alliance said Zuma must tell Ndebele to hand back his Mercedes.

"The onus is now on President Jacob Zuma to do the right thing, stand by his stated commitment to clean government, and tell Transport Minister S'bu Ndebele to hand back the R1,1-million Mercedes-Benz that was given to him as a gift by a group of contractors," said Athol Trollip, DA parliamentary leader.

Trollip said in so doing Zuma would set the correct tone for his administration and send a clear signal he was genuinely committed to ensuring that special favours would not be tolerated.

"We also believe it would be appropriate for the auditor-general to conduct a special investigation into the contracts awarded to Vukuzakhe, to make sure that they were granted no special favours in the many contracts they have been awarded over the past years."

Trollip said Ndebele stated that he has no personal or private business interests with Vukuzakhe.

"The conflict of interest stems from his dealings with Vukuzakhe in his capacity as a government official."

He said the impression has been created that Ndebele was being paid back for years of generous government contract work.

Ndebele was expected to address a media briefing on the matter in Cape Town on Tuesday afternoon.