Jailed former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni had never defrauded parliament, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete told MPs yesterday.

This appears to be in direct contradiction to the views of two Pretoria High Court judges who, on appeal, found that Yengeni had defrauded parliament by failing to disclose a massive discount on a luxury vehicle and proceeded to lie to the institution for two years.

Mbete was speaking after an ANC motion of confidence in her role as Speaker was carried in the House by 188 to 37 votes, with 20 abstentions.

An earlier DA motion urging that the House express its dismay at Mbete's support for Yengeni did not muster sufficient support and fell away. DA chief whip Douglas Gibson had wanted the House to censure Mbete for making "a public spectacle of herself outside Pollsmoor prison while demonstrating her support for the convicted fraudster".

Mbete told MPs there were "no holy cows" and that is why she had wanted the issue to be debated. "If there is something wrong that the Speaker has done, let's talk about it." Mbete also supported a call by DA MP Mike Ellis for a debate on the role and place of the office of the Speaker in a democratic SA.

She said parliament had opted for a political Speaker and that she attended ANC caucus meetings, unlike Lesotho for example, where the Speaker was not even an MP.

Referring to the spirit of ubuntu and the value of human solidarity, she said: "Regardless of what the circumstances were, one has to give support to another human being. The intention is not to destroy, the intention is to build."

Mbete told MPs: "This parliament was never defrauded by the former honourable member Tony Yengeni. I thought it is important to make that categorical statement."

She had also checked with her predecessor, Frene Ginwala, who was also anxious that "this point is made categorically clear".

It appears Mbete was trying to draw a distinction between parliament having been materially defrauded and having lost money, as was the case with a number of Travelgate MPs who pleaded guilty to defrauding the institution.

Yengeni was sentenced to four years in jail in a plea bargain agreement with the state in which he pleaded guilty to fraud. He was initially charged with corruption and fraud. Yengeni appealed against his sentence and two Pretoria High Court judges found he had been correctly convicted of defrauding parliament by failing to disclose a 47% discount he received on a 4x4 Mercedes-Benz from a company with an interest in the arms deal, when he was chairman of the joint committee on defence. He had lied about it for more than two years, the judges said.

The judges also dismissed Yengeni's resignation from parliament as a mitigating factor. They said Yengeni had initiated the fraudulent deal and then helped prepare a backdated agreement of sale falsely stating the car had been purchased at a price of R230 052, and that he had paid a R50 000 deposit. He in fact paid R182 563 in total.

The purchase document also falsely stated the vehicle had been damaged in transit and was sold without the usual guarantee.Yengeni had paid for newspaper advertisements proclaiming his innocence and attacking his accusers and investigators, the judges said.

There could be no doubt that he intended to deceive parliament and the public at large.

With acknowledgements to Angela Quintal and Cape Times.