Johannesburg — THE South Gauteng High Court yesterday imposed a 15-year jail term on former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, the most senior police official yet to be convicted of corruption.

Selebi is out on bail as his legal team prepares to apply for leave to appeal against the conviction and sentence. He was found guilty of receiving money from Glenn Agliotti, a convicted drug dealer, between 2004 and 2006. In return, Agliotti received benefits from Selebi, including the attendance of meetings that Agliotti organised.

Legislation prescribes minimum sentences of 15 years in jail for corruption by a public official, unless there are substantial and compelling reasons for a lesser penalty.

Judge Meyer Joffe yesterday found there were no substantial and compelling circumstances to justify granting a lesser sentence to Selebi. "Fifteen years is an appropriate sentence. It is not disproportionate to the crime," Judge Joffe said.

He said that at no stage had Selebi shown remorse. Instead, he had lied and fabricated evidence before the court.

"It is inconceivable that the person who occupied the office of the national commissioner of police could have been such a stranger to the truth. At no stage during the trial did the accused display any remorse."

Judge Joffe also told Selebi that when he took over as police commissioner in 2000, those under him looked up to him with respect and they sought leadership from him in the fight against crime.

The judge said Selebi must have been an embarrassment to the people who had appointed him, to police members who served under him, and to the court.

Judge Joffe said it was beyond understanding why Selebi thought the court could accept mendacious and fabricated evidence. He also said the seriousness of corruption could not be overemphasised.

He had looked to previous judgments for guidance on the appropriate sentence.

Judge Joffe quoted the North Gauteng High Court judgment of ANC former chief whip Tony Yengeni, which stated that courts had repeatedly warned that so-called "white-collar" crimes were to be regarded as seriously as crimes of violence in every respect, and that they should be visited by the same penal sanction.

Judge Joffe also quoted a judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeal in the case of businessman Schabir Shaik, in which the court dismissed Shaik's appeal against a 15-year jail term for corruption. The appeal court stated that the seriousness of the offence of corruption could not be overemphasised.

"It offends against the rule of law and the principles of good governance. It lowers the moral tone of a nation and negatively affects development and the promotion of human rights.

"As a country we have travelled a long and tortuous road to achieve democracy."

That judgment stated that courts had to send out an unequivocal message that corruption would not be tolerated and that punishment would be appropriately severe.

When Shaik was convicted in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court for corruption, Judge Hilary Squires - whose judgment was also quoted by Judge Joffe - likened corruption to a cancer. If it were not checked, it became systemic, he said.