A convicted prisoner, now on parole, was among those sworn in as an MP this week. The EFF's Kenny Motsamai is a former military commander of the Azanian People's Liberation Army (Apla) who spent 28 years in jail for killing a white traffic officer. Apla was involved in an operation that included a robbery in Rustenburg, North West, that led to the death of the traffic officer in 1989. The court sentenced Motsamai to two life sentences later that year but he was released from Boksburg prison on parole last June, reports TimesLIVE. On Wednesday, Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng began the swearing-in proceedings by citing a constitutional requirement that prohibits a convicted criminal from becoming an MP. Mogoeng, without naming names, cited section 106 of the Constitution, which prohibits those who have been convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than a year in prison without the option of a fine from becoming MPs. But the provision is applicable only from the time the Constitution took effect. And a disqualification ends five years after the sentence has been completed. 'One member who has to be sworn in or have an affirmation administered to was convicted and is on parole. On the information at my disposal, the particular delegate was convicted in 1989 and the Constitution took effect in 1996. So this section 106 (1)(e) seems not to exclude that delegate. 'There must be good reason why our Constitution drafters decided to make this provision applicable only after the adoption of Constitution. It is for that reason that I will be administering the oath or affirmation to that member, because my own understanding of the Constitution is that "after" means "after",' said Mogoeng.