Yengeni dismissal bid rejected

2008-07-18 13:41

Cape Town - The State has rejected arguments that a drunken driving charge against former ruling party chief whip Tony Yengeni be withdrawn, a Cape Town court heard on Friday.

Defence attorney Mario Wilker told the Goodwood Magistrate's Court that the Western Cape Directorate for Public Prosecutions had rejected representations made on Yengeni's behalf, for the withdrawal of the charge.

Yengeni was making his fifth appearance, before Magistrate Ricardo Phillips, since his arrest in the early hours on November 26 last year.

Wilker said he would now approach the National Directorate for Public Prosecutions (NDPP) in Pretoria, and needed extra time to do so.

Asked what the purpose was in approaching the NDPP, if the local DPP had rejected the representations, Wilker said the matter had to be taken to higher authority.

Questioned by the magistrate, Wilker added that the chances of success, in referring the case to the NDPP, were "reasonable".

Phillips postponed the case to August 29, but said the case had to "come to an end sooner or later".

He said it would be the final postponement for the purpose of representations.

Wilker previously told the court he had obtained a copy of disciplinary proceedings relating to the dismissal of former Goodwood police station commander, Siphiwo Hewana, for not handling Yengeni's blood sample properly.

The sample, taken soon after Yengeni's arrest to determine the alcohol content, landed in Hewana's possession, who then left it in his desk drawer instead of locking it in a safe, as had to be done.

It was alleged that the blood was tampered with, and could therefore no longer be sent for forensic analysis.

Hewana himself currently faced criminal charges in connection with this.

- SAPA