'Do MPs get a crack at crime?'

2005-10-03 16:29

Pretoria - The State was asked to explain on Monday why it was not seeking a prison sentence for politician and convicted fraudster Tony Yengeni.

The effect of an 18-month suspended sentence for which the State was asking would be that Yengeni could return to parliament immediately, the Pretoria High Court judges presiding over Yengeni's review and appeal proceedings pointed out.

Prosecutor Riegal du Toit said a suspended sentence would be an appropriate deterrent.

Judge Ferdi Preller asked: "Who are you going to deter by this sentence?

"If people are told it is alright, you can defraud the government of R40 000-odd or you can take a gift of R180 000 and not disclose it - you will get a suspended sentence and continue in parliament - is that the message we want to send out?

"Does every member of parliament get one bite of the apple?"

'A position of public trust'

Preller and colleague Eberhard Bertelsmann spoke out harshly against corruption among public officials, likening it to a cancer eating away at society.

But Du Toit asked why a distinction should be made between fraud committed by public officials and by ordinary people.

"There is a fundamental difference," Bertelsmann replied. "They are empowered to deal with public money. It is a position of public trust.

"Every time a public official commits an offence of dishonesty, that trust is abused."

The judges wanted to know whether corrupt public officials should be allowed to continue holding public office, and whether it was not the function of the courts to protect the public against such crimes.

Preller said: "It is not the kind of country where you would want to live where every public official gets one shot at a hefty crime without being sent to jail."

The judges also made reference to suspended sentences recently imposed on members of parliament in the so-called Travelgate scam.

- SAPA