SOUTH AFRICA: Waving to his supporters and dancing in traditional toyi-toyi fashion, former African National Congress (ANC) chief whip Tony Yengeni made the final journey to prison yesterday.
It was an unorthodox way to begin a four-year sentence for fraud. But then again South Africa is not used to this kind of thing - imprisoning a celebrated hero in the fight against apartheid for a white-collar crime.
Mr Yengeni was convicted in March 2003 of defrauding parliament by neglecting to declare a discount worth 167,000 rand (€18,500) which he had received on a Mercedes-Benz from one of the bidders in a multimillion rand arms deal.
This week, his final avenue of appeal - a special plea to the Supreme Court - failed.
Never mind that Mr Yengeni may only have to serve a fraction of his sentence - perhaps even as little as four months, according to some estimates. The fact that he is doing jail time at all is seen as an important step in the battle against corruption.
The affair has also generated mixed emotions in the ANC, with several senior party members walking in solidarity with their comrade to the gates of Pollsmoor Prison, near Cape Town. Among them were Essop Pahad, minister in president Thabo Mbeki's office, and Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool who said Mr Yengeni still had a role to play upon release from prison.
Amid defiant chants from his supporters, Mr Yengeni described his conviction as a "travesty of justice", saying the matter should have been dealt with in parliament rather than in a court of law.
Democratic Alliance chief whip Douglas Gibson said the presence of government ministers at yesterday's send-off was a disgrace, adding "this 'hero's parade' . . . flies in the face of President Mbeki's stance on corruption".
The scenes were reminiscent of the imprisonment of former ANC heavyweight Allan Boesak in the same jail in 2000.
Boesak was carried shoulder-high into the prison by supporters at the start of a three-year sentence for fraud - just over a year of which he actually served.
Mr Yengeni's jailing has extra political resonance, coming just days before the reopening of the corruption trial against former deputy-president Jacob Zuma.
Mr Zuma and French-owned arms company Thint are facing fraud charges over business dealings linked to Schabir Shaik, a Durban businessman and financial adviser to Mr Zuma, who got 15 years for corruption.
The stakes have been raised in recent days with Thint supporting allegations of a political conspiracy against Mr Zuma, as well as the arms company.
In an affidavit to the Pietermaritzburg High Court, Thint also claims that a former justice minister - who is leading the charge for prosecution - took a job for the company late last year.
President Mbeki's relationship with Thint could also be probed during the trial, which is due to have major implications for the leadership race in the ANC.
Mr Zuma is continuing to attract support from various lobby groups.
However, one person not endorsing his candidacy is Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, who said he prayed that someone would counsel Mr Zuma to do "the most dignified, most selfless thing" and pull out of the succession contest.