Disgraced MPTony Yengeni agreed to step down this week after being convinced by ANC heavyweights that his resignation from Parliament would favourably affect his sentencing, according to party insiders.
It is understood that senior ANC officials reasoned with Yengeni that a resignation would work in his favour when his case comes up for sentencing on March 19. It was also pointed out that the kind of ”critical media coverage” his case had received was not good for him or the party.
The Mail & Guardian understands that ANC leader Thabo Mbeki did not force the issue, as reports suggest. Mbeki was in Kuala Lumpur attending the Non-Aligned Movement summit.
ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, chairperson Mosiuoa Lekota, secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe and other officials met Yengeni on Monday to convey a ”collective decision” that he should resign his parliamentary seat because of his fraud conviction. Yengeni pleaded guilty to defrauding Parliament over a 47% discount he received on a 4×4 Mercedes-Benz in 1998.
”We told him it would be the right thing to do,” Motlanthe confirmed onThursday. ”It would be incorrect to say Mbeki intervened and asked him to resign.”
However, Yengeni refused to comply immediately. After repeated telephone calls from Motlanthe, he announced his resignation in a five-word declaration on Wednesday: ”I forthwith resign from Parliament.”
Said Motlanthe: ”I had been trying to convince him it was the proper thing to do.”
ANC representative Smuts Ngonyama said Motlanthe had ”analysed” the situation with Yengeni this week.
The interview Motlanthe gave to the M&G last week, in which he said Yengeni should follow his conscience, and a report in Monday’s Sowetan, in which he explicitly called for the errant MP to step down, appear to have been part of a concerted campaign of pressure.
Motlanthe said Yengeni’s position on the ANC’s national executive committee will be decided by the party’s disciplinary committee after he is sentenced later this month.
Yengeni was not available for comment. ANC members speculated that he might have consulted his confidante, ANC Women’s League president Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, before finally deciding to quit.
Ngonyama brushed aside criticisms that the ANC in Parliament was not in the loop.
”ANC members in Parliament must follow parliamentary procedures. What the ANC does as a political organisation is a separate issue. Why should we call a meeting of ANC parliamentarians and tell them about our meeting with Yengeni?”
The resignation left egg on the face of ANC MPs who used their majority in the rules committee on the previous day to ensure an ad hoc committee of Parliament dealt with Yengeni’s case. They were clearly caught off guard when the issue of his misleading the National Assembly over his 4×4 discount was introduced during Tuesday’s rules committee meeting.
The matter had not been included on the agenda circulated ahead of the meeting and was not discussed in the party study group on Monday night. It was added by Speaker of Parliament Frene Ginwala, with the support of opposition parties, at Tuesday’s meeting. This was the second time in a month that she was clearly at odds with her party.
”The manner in which the matter was introduced was wrong. We were in a no-win situation,” complained one ANC MP.
”We could have said we will not discuss the matter because it is not on the agenda. But then there would have been a lot of criticism.”
Yengeni’s parliamentary colleagues for the umpteenth time closed ranks behind him, using their numerical strength in the rules committee to reverse an earlier agreement among all political parties that Yengeni should appear before the House to explain himself. Instead he would address ”in person, through a representative or in writing” an ad hoc committee.
Yengeni should be given the opportunity ”to give input whether he misled the House or not”, argued ANC MP John Jeffrey, Zuma’s parliamentary counsellor. Jeffrey had spearheaded the parliamentary ANC’s move to protect Yengeni, first appearing in this role in a speech during the State of the Nation debate.
Yengeni’s terse resignation effectively closed the matter for Parliament. It was left to ANC chief whip Nkosinathi Nhleko to save face in the National Assembly, emphasising the ruling party’s commitment to upholding the integrity of all public institutions, and Parliament in particular.
”The ANC views the admissions by Mr Yengeni in a very serious light and, in view of the above, the ANC believes Mr Yengeni has done the honourable thing by resigning,” he said.
Yengeni had protested his innocence from the podium of the National Assembly on March 28 2001.
”I would like to reiterate that the motor vehicle in question has been legitimately purchased by myself,” he said, insisting it had nothing to do with the controversial multibillion-rand arms deal.
As recently as three weeks ago the party again came under fire after Yengeni attended the opening of Parliament. Dressed in an expensive blue suit and tie, the man dubbed the ”Gucci socialist” took up his seat — a day after being convicted in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court.
In the wake of the saga, it is likely that Parliament will review its rules. It currently has no sanction stronger than censure to deal with parliamentarians who mislead the House.
”What we need to consider — independently of party political positions — is how Parliament should deal with cases when members deliberately mislead the House. I hope that we will return to that and deal with this as a united Parliament,” Ginwala said.