Yengeni 'deserves speedy trial'

2008-06-05 14:05

Cape Town - The drunken driving charge against Tony Yengeni, former chief whip of the ANC, was linked to the criminal case involving the former commander of the Goodwood police station, Siphiwo Hewana, the Goodwood Magistrate's Court heard on Thursday.

Yengeni on Thursday made his third appearance in the Goodwood Magistrate's Court, before magistrate Ricardo Phillips who extended his R500 bail and postponed the case to June 13.

Yengeni was arrested on a charge of drunken driving on the night of November 26 last year, and faces an alternative charge of reckless driving, relating to the manner in which he drove his BMW car.

Prosecutor Daniel Cloete told the court the Yengeni case was linked to Hewana's prosecution on a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice.

Hewana is alleged to have unlawfully placed Yengeni's blood sample in a drawer in his office on the night Yengeni was arrested, instead of locking it up in a safe.

The State alleges that this irregularity led to tampering with the blood sample, which meant that the sample could not be forwarded for forensic analysis to determine Yengeni's blood alcohol count.

Cloete told the court that a disciplinary hearing against Hewana had led to his dismissal from the police.

He said defence attorney Mario Wilker needed a copy of the disciplinary hearing record to enable him to prepare for Yengeni's defence.

The State itself did not need a copy of the record, as it did not form part of the "prosecution armoury".

Cloete had been unable to obtain a copy of the record for the defence as the investigating officer in the Yengeni case was off sick.

He had no obligation to assist the defence in obtaining the record, but that he had merely tried to be of assistance as a record would be of benefit to the defence.

Cloete said he was ready to proceed with the Yengeni prosecution, but that he and Wilker had agreed to a postponement to August to enable Wilker to obtain the record.

The magistrate said Yengeni was entitled to a speedy trial and that a postponement to August was too long.

He said a week was ample time to obtain the record and that the onus to do so was on Wilker and not the State.

- SAPA