Pretoria: The state was in the dock yesterday for not seeking a prison sentence for convicted fraudster Tony Yengeni and other corrupt public officials.

Pointing out that public corruption has become rife, two Pretoria High Court judges said it might be time to start imposing deterrent sentences.

"It is the type of crime that at the moment constitutes a veritable cancer in our society," Judge Eberhard Bertelsmann said while hearing Yengeni's challenge against a fraud conviction and four-year sentence.

His colleague Ferdi Preller said the effects of public corruption were devastating for the country and its system of democracy.

"This is not only an economic crime, but undermines the faith the public has in the government. That can eventually lead to anarchy."

The judges grilled prosecutor Riegal du Toit on the state's decision to contest the trial magistrate's imposition of a four-year sentence on Yengeni - of which at least eight months had to be served.

The state is seeking an 18-month suspended jail term.

"Who are you going deter?" Preller asked.

They also questioned Du Toit on recent non-custodial sentences imposed on members of parliament, in terms of plea deals with the state, found guilty of fraud in the so-called Travelgate scam.

A member of parliament had to abandon his or her seat if sentenced to more than 12 months in jail without the option of a fine.

The judges wanted to know from Du Toit whether corrupt public officials should be given sentences allowing them to retain their seats.

"Do you honestly think that these kinds of sentences send out the message that the administration of justice serves to deter elected officials caught with their fingers in the till from doing so again?" Preller asked.

"You are a criminal lawyer of considerable experience. Does this feel right to you?" he questioned Du Toit - referring to the Travelgate and Yengeni cases.

The advocate declined to express a personal view.

An 18-month suspended sentence for Yengeni would allow him to return to parliament immediately.

Preller pointed to President Thabo Mbeki's repeated statements about the need to eradicate government corruption.

Deterring would-be fraudsters was the only way of achieving that, he added. Bertelsmann said the higher the office held by an offender, the harsher the crime ought to be judged.

Yengeni was convicted in 2003 of defrauding parliament after failing to disclose a near 50% discount on a luxury 4X4 Mercedes-Benz.

The car deal was arranged by a representative of a bidder in the government's arms acquisition process. Yengeni was then chairman of parliament's joint standing committee on defence, which oversaw the arms deal.

Asked Bertelsmann: "In principle... is a person who has abused the trust placed in him/her by an election into public office fit to continue holding public office once that trust has been abused?" Du Toit agreed the answer should be "no", but asked the court to keep in mind the personal circumstances of each offender.

The judges questioned the credibility of Yengeni's claim that former prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka had promised him a R5 000 fine in exchange for pleading guilty to a lesser charge of fraud.

Matthew Chaskalson, for the National Director of Public Prosecutions, described Yengeni's version as fanciful and questioned why he only raised it two years after the fact.

Had such a deal existed, it would in any event have been unlawful, unconstitutional and unenforcable.

The judges reserved judgment in Yengeni's separate applications for a review of the criminal trial, and an appeal against his conviction and sentence.

With acknowledgements to Mariette le Roux and the Cape Times.