Garth Piet Mngomezulu (born 20 February 1952) is a South African politician who represented the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

from 1994 to 2006, representing the

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

constituency. In August 2006, shortly after he vacated his seat, he was convicted of having defrauded

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in the Travelgate scandal.

Legislative career

Mngomezulu was elected to the National Assembly in the 1994 general election and subsequently gained re-election in

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

. He represented the Mpumalanga constituency and served as a party

whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

for the ANC during his third term. He resigned from Parliament in the middle of his third term, vacating his seat on 1 June 2006. By the time of his resignation, Mngomezulu was facing criminal charges for his involvement in the Travelgate scandal, which concerned the abuse of parliamentary air-travel vouchers by MPs. In October 2006, he signed a plea deal with the

Scorpions Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...

, in terms of which he pled guilty to

fraud In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compens ...

in the

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. The fraud concerned an amount of R235,000 in service benefits and he was sentenced to pay a fine of R100,000 or serve five years' imprisonment; he was also sentenced to a mandatory five years' imprisonment, suspended conditionally.

References

Living people 1952 births African National Congress politicians 21st-century South African politicians 20th-century South African politicians Members of the National Assembly of South Africa South African politicians convicted of fraud {{DEFAULTSORT:Mngomezulu, Garth