The ruling Progressive Labour Party should distance itself from oil tycoon John Deuss, a party activist said yesterday.

Former PLP Central Committee member Rolfe Commissiong added Dutch-born Mr.

Deuss' record of selling oil to the then-racist apartheid South African government in the 80s should have barred him from Bermuda altogether.

He said: "I don't think John Deuss should have been allowed in Bermuda in the first place.

"I'm of the opinion, notwithstanding his wealth and influence, he is the type of foreign influence Bermuda could have done without.'' Mr. Commissiong added that the apartheid regime killed thousands and had former South African president Nelson Mandela under lock and key at the time Mr. Deuss was selling the government oil.

He said: "Nelson Mandela was in jail at the time this man was operating.

"To some John Deuss may be seen as a buccaneering capitalist, but his role in the shipping of embargoed oil to South Africa during apartheid is unconscionable.'' Mr. Commissiong added: "As far as I'm aware, he's never apologised to the current South African government or to the African National Congress.'' Mr. Commissiong hit out after it was revealed billionaire Mr. Deuss acted as cheerleader in a bid to raise cash from international business to help Government fund the purchase of a luxury $5 million estate near Hamilton to house the Ministry of Tourism.

Government denied newspaper reports that a letter from Cabinet Office had gone out to the international sector seeking cash -- but did not reveal that Mr.

Deuss had written and telephoned top businessmen in a an attempt to get them behind a plan to buy the Cragmore estate, off Pitt's Bay Road.

Mr. Commissiong said: "For someone such as Mr. Deuss to be having that type of relationship with the current political leadership is wrong.'' And he called on Mr. Deuss to take $5 million of his own money "and send that and an apology to the South African government so that money can be used to build schools and other facilities for the poor of South Africa''.

He added: "Until he does that, as far as I'm concerned, he's persona non grata.'' Government has so far failed to reply to questions from The Royal Gazette on the affair put through Government Information Services last week.

And on Friday, Premier Jennifer Smith was slammed by Opposition figures for cutting short the House of Assembly's motion to adjourn just after Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell called on Government to "come clean'' on the row.

Activist in warning to Government Opposition leader Pamela Gordon later accused Ms Smith of trying to "shut down'' debate on the Cragmore controversy.

Mr. Commissiong said: "I'm also concerned, on a broader level, with the significant influence that wealthy members of the international business community have been wielding in our political processes for a number of years, starting with the United Bermuda Party.'' Mr. Deuss -- who has lived in Bermuda for about 25 years -- controls the Bermuda Commercial Bank and runs Transworld Oil from the Island.

He came under fire in 1986 from European anti-apartheid groups for selling oil through subisidiaries to Afrikaner-dominated South Africa.

At the time, a UN General Assembly-declared oil embargo was in force, although General Assembly resolutions are not binding.

Mr. Deuss -- who stopped dealings with South Africa the following year -- insisted the sales to the apartheid regime were not an endorsement of the system, although he said he was still not in favour of sanctions as that would "escalate the conflict'' between the majority black population and the controlling white minority.

Rolfe Commissiong