It was a long time coming, but not too many people would have predicted that Tony Yengeni's political career would end with a four-year prison sentence for fraud.

Given the prevailing perception in SA that white-collar crime is treated leniently by the courts generally, it was expected that the disgraced former African National Congress (ANC) chief whip found guilty of fraud last month in terms of a plea agreement with the state would, at worst, get a suspended sentence.

At best it was expected he would be sentenced to community work. More so as his legal representative had asked for a R1000 fine to be imposed on the basis that he had suffered enough, the logic being that he lost future career prospects in his area of expertise, politics.

He had already lost his position as chief whip of the ANC and as an MP, and his image had been badly dented by a stream of critical media reports.

However, the court did not buy into this argument and subject to the outcome of the appeal Yengeni has launched against what he saw as a "harsh" sentence he might have to swap his stylish suits for a prison uniform.

What should irk him, though, is that his former co-accused, German businessman Michael Woerfel, was allowed to walk free, without a criminal record attached to his name.

Woerfel, who was heading DaimlerBenz Aerospace locally, was facing charges of having arranged a discount for the luxury 4x4 behind Yengeni's present woes.

Daimler-Benz Aerospace was a bidder in the controversial multibillion arms programme to re-equip SA's defence. That deal was surrounded by numerous allegations of corruption. Even though the three agencies that investigated the matter the public protector, the auditor-general and the national director of public prosecutions cleared the executive of any wrongdoing, there are still lingering concerns around alleged irregularities.

The authorities are still investigating and trying to tie up the loose ends arising from the referrals and recommendations of the three agencies.

While it is important to note that Yengeni was not convicted of corruption related to the arms deal, he was legally not cleared of the charge. Instead he chose the plea-bargain route, resulting in a fraud conviction.

Sadly too, while this might have been the only logical strategy to extricate himself from a complicated and increasingly expensive case, the plea bargain has deprived SA of a real opportunity to understand the behind-the-scenes relationship between Yengeni and Woerfel. The case could have shed more light on why Woerfel agreed to grant such a generous car discount to the former chairman of Parliament's defence committee.

As things now stand, we will never know what happened between the two men. A crucial lesson to be drawn from this morass is that any degree of untruth a culture that appears to have become a favourite pastime among some politicians has to stop. Hopefully, politicians will avoid indulging in arrogance when asked to account for their actions from now on, and show due respect to the institutions meant to support SA's fragile democracy. They should also be "man enough" to admit when they have committed any wrongdoing.

With acknowledgements to Pule Molebeledi and Business Day.