Publication	Sapa BC-COURT-2ND-LD-YENGENI
Date	2005-11-11
Issued	Pretoria
Reporter	Sapa

A four-year jail term *1 imposed on fraudster politician Tony Yengeni "errs significantly on the side of leniency", the Pretoria High Court found on Friday in dismissing his appeal against conviction and sentence.

Judges Eberhard Bertelsmann and Ferdi Preller said they had considered giving notice of their intention to increase the penalty at the time of hearing Yengeni's appeal.

"But (we) were dissuaded from this course by the fact that the appeal would then have had to be postponed, delaying justice yet once more...

"Our inaction should not be regarded as an indication that a similar sentence will be endorsed by this court in a comparable case in future."

The judges dismissed the former African National Congress chief whip's appeal against a fraud conviction and four-year jail sentence -- of which he had to serve at least eight months.

They found he had been correctly convicted of defrauding parliament by failing to disclose a near-50 percent discount he received on a 4x4 Mercedes Benz.

He had intentionally lied for more than two years, the judges said.

They dismissed as a fabrication the politician's contention that he had been promised a fine not exceeding R5 000 by former prosecution head Bulelani Ngcuka if he pleaded guilty.

Yengeni's lawyer, Marius du Toit, said they would probably challenge the judgment in the Supreme Court of Appeal *2, but the options had yet to be discussed.

"We are disappointed but it is not the end of the road yet," he said outside the court.

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*1  Here is a tautology :

A four-year jail term is lighter than a fifteen-year jail term.

Take the plea and spill the beans.

There are some bean-counters on standby to take your call.

*2  Take the 8-month punch before the SCA counters with a 5-year punch.