Pretoria: Former ANC MP Tony Yengeni moved one step closer to a jail cell yesterday.

High court Justices Eberhard Bertelsmann and Ferdi Preller dismissed his application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein against his four-year prison sentence for defrauding parliament.

Yengeni would in effect have to serve eight months.

But Yengeni said he had not yet given up the fight against his conviction and sentence.

He had expected his application to fail.

"Well, if you look at the judgment by the same judges, this time there was nothing different to expect."

Yengeni was sentenced after failing to disclose to parliament the 48% discount he received on a Mercedes-Benz 4x4 from an arms company bidding for contracts at the time when he was chairman of the parliamentary joint standing committee on defence.

Yesterday the judges again emphasised that Yengeni had been a public official and had abused his position of trust for personal gain.

They said, if anything, Yengeni should have been given a more severe sentence.

Yengeni's attorney, Marius du Toit, said although he had yet to receive final instructions, it was likely his client would petition the Appeal Court for leave to appeal. He had 21 days to file the petition and would apply for the extension of his bail.

Yengeni expressed confidence that he would not go to jail.

"Eventually I think I will be vindicated in the course of the entire process because I believe I am innocent."

In November last year, the judges dismissed Yengeni's appeal against his conviction and four-year prison sentence .

Yengeni's counsel, Koos van Vuuren, SC, had argued that the court had overemphasised the aggravating features in the case and had all but ignored his client's personal circumstances.

But Judge Preller said Yengeni was not an ordinary citizen, but a public official who had been convicted of corruption.

He said his first feeling on reading the papers was one almost of shock and on re-reading them it had again struck him between the eyes that this man had "sold out the interest of his country for personal gain while he was in a position of trust".

Judge Bertelsmann said Yengeni had for years abused his position of trust.

He had not only failed to enter and disclose a benefit in the register of parliament, but had repeatedly, dishonestly and calculatedly denied receiving it the benefit.

Judge Bertelsmann said he remained convinced that, the aggravating features outweighed any consideration of his personal circumstances.

Yengeni claimed he had an agreement with former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, that he would receive a fine of not more than R5 000, but the judges found such an agreement had not been entered into and could in any event not be lawfully enforced.

That he had intended to deceive parliament and the public was established beyond doubt by his stubborn denial of the truth for almost two years and by the deliberately deceitful advertisements he published in order to cover his tracks.

Corruption by elected office-bearers had become one of the most serious threats to the country's wellbeing and needed "drastic efforts" to combat.

With acknowledgement to Wendy Jasson Da Costa, Sapa and Cape Times.