Opposition political parties applauded the four-year jail sentence for former African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Tony Yengeni yesterday, but the ANC continued to sidestep the issue of his fraud conviction and sentence.

The response from the ruling party was similar to its response when Yengeni was convicted of fraud in the Pretoria Commercial Crime Court last month for lying to Parliament about a discount on a motor vehicle he received from a company linked to the multibillion-rand arms programme.

ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said: "We have a particular view, but we do not want to make it public until justice has been exhausted." Yengeni is appealing against the sentence, and this process could take six months .

The official opposition Democratic Alliance said the ANC's response was inadequate. Spokeswoman Raenette Taljaard said: "The court took a strong view of the matter , and yet the ANC not only ducked the issue in Parliament but they also appear to be ducking the issue now."

Pan Africanist Congress MP Patricia de Lille said she was relieved by the sentence, which ended "nearly two years of hell" for her. Following her claim that government officials were involved in the arms deal controversy, she received death threats, was ridiculed in Parliament and was even blamed for the rand's weakness by treasury director-general Maria Ramos.

The United Democratic Movement and the Inkatha Freedom Party said the judgment showed the judiciary believed MPs were accountable for their actions.

Yengeni is expected to serve only eight months of his sentence in prison before being considered for correctional supervision. Charges against his co-accused, German businessman Michael Woerfel, were withdrawn as Yengeni was acquitted of all charges he and Woerfel faced together.

With acknowledgements to Chantelle Benjamin and Business Day.