She resigned from her seat during the Travelgate scandal, in which she was convicted of having defrauded Parliament.
Mpaka joined the National Assembly on 10 August 1999, filling the casual vacancy created by Janet Love's resignation.
[1] In March 2005, Mpaka was among the first MPs convicted on a criminal charge for abusing parliamentary travel vouchers in the Travelgate scandal.
[3] She accepted a plea deal with the Scorpions, in terms of which she pled guilty to defrauding Parliament of service benefits worth R75,000.
[3] In June 2005, Mpaka and four other convicted MPs – Ruth Bhengu, Mavis Magazi, Rhoda Joemat, and Pamela Mnandi – announced that they would resign from the National Assembly.