Parliament on Thursday defended the right of MPs embroiled in the Travelgate scandal to return to its benches and head oversight committees.

Acting secretary of the National Assembly, Michael Coetzee, said that by law, MPs who entered into plea bargains in the Travelgate probe were not barred from running for Parliament.

"The (Independent) Electoral Commission found that they can serve in the National Assembly," he told a media briefing at Parliament.

The Constitution disqualifies anybody sentenced to more than 12 months in jail, without the option of a fine, from standing for election to the legislature until five years after the sentence has been served.

Three ANC MPs who admitted guilt in the travel voucher scam, and one due to go on trial next week, have been nominated to chair portfolio committees.

Speaking at the briefing, Speaker Max Sisulu conceded that the Independent Panel Assessment of Parliament, on which he served, recommended they should not be allowed to serve in the legislature.

"In the view of the panel, any member of Parliament who is convicted of corruption, fraud or similar offences should be ineligible to serve as a member of Parliament," the panel stated in its report.

It also noted that unethical conduct has damaged the image of the legislature.

Pressed on the report, Sisulu said: "It is with Parliament. It should be debated and discussed and hopefully adopted. For the moment, it is not."

MP Ruth Bhengu pleaded guilty to fraud involving Parliamentary travel vouchers in 2005, and was given a fine and suspended sentence.

She resigned as MP at the time, but returned to the legislature after the April elections, and has been named chairwoman of Parliament's transport committee.

Barbara Thompson and Beauty Dlulane, who were also convicted following plea agreements, have been chosen to chair the women, youth, children and disabled committee and the women's caucus respectively.

Dlulane's case involved an amount of R289,000.

Former ANC chief whip Mnyamezeli Booi, who has been named chairman of the defence committee, will be the last MP to go on trial in the Travelgate saga.

His trial is due to begin in the Cape Town Regional Court on June 1.

Booi, who first appeared in court in February 2005, faces a single fraud charge, but it entails multiple transactions, involving R140,000. He has refused to enter a plea bargain.

The Democratic Alliance's leader in Parliament, Athol Trollip, last week said the ANC's selection of Booi and three former Travelgate accused as committee chairs showed the party's moral bankruptcy.

Chairpersons of portfolio committees played a critical role in holding the executive to account, and should not have a "tainted ethical record", he said.

Sapa

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