Convicted Travelgate MP Randy Pieterse told colleagues on the National Assembly's communications committee on Tuesday that he was angry at himself and bore no grudge against anybody.
Pieterse was back at work in parliament a day after pleading guilty to theft of R60 000 in a plea bargain agreement with the State.
He was fined R25 000 and, in terms of the constitution, is able to continue serving as an MP.
The constitution says that an MP who is convicted of an offence and sentenced to more than a year in jail without an option of a fine, is disqualified from serving as an elected public representative.
At the end of the meeting, Pieterse thanked the chairperson for the opportunity to say a few words.
In a voice breaking with emotion, he told the multi party committee: "I think everybody knows by now that I have been through rough times."
He thanked ANC and opposition MPs on the committee by name for their support.
Pieterse told MPs that he had also received a call from Deputy Communications Minister Roy Padayachee at the weekend to wish him strength.
He told MPs that the media had also treated him with "the necessary respect".
"They reported on the facts. There was no mudslinging."
He acknowledged that some of the questions asked had made him uncomfortable, but he only had himself to blame.
Pieterse is among the examples used by disgruntled ANC MPs implicated in the Travelgate fraud as someone who was "sacrificed" at the expense of the "bigger fish" whose alleged crimes were far bigger but who were not charged.
They point, for example, to a senior parliamentary office bearer who took family members on a trip to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe using parliamentary travel vouchers.
The MP was not among those prosecuted by the National Prosecuting Authority nor a host of cabinet ministers and deputies, some of whom are alleged to have accepted cash.
The ANC has denied that it influenced the process in any way and that the decision to prosecute was that of the NPA alone.
Pieterse has told colleagues and the media that he struggled with the decision to plead guilty, given the choice of either paying R25 000 and trying to rebuild his life or facing a lengthy and costly High Court battle he could not afford and which would exact even more of a toll on him and on his family.
He told MPs on Tuesday: "I am not angry at anybody. I am angry at myself.
"I should have been more careful. I had to pay R25 000 for my lesson.
"I hope others can get the lesson free just by observing what I have done."
"On behalf of me and my family, thank you very much."
The future of the recent crop of serving ANC MPs who have pleaded guilty remains open.
ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama said no decision had been made on whether the MPs would be expected to quit, as was the case with five other serving ANC MPs who pleaded guilty to Travelgate related charges in 2005 and subsequently resigned their seats.