Yengeni trial set for November

2008-10-03 18:47

Cape Town - Former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni's drunk driving trial will start on November 14, the Goodwood Magistrate's Court decided on Friday.

Magistrate Ricardo Phillips insisted that the trial be scheduled for next month, after defence attorney Mario Wilker had objected to a postponement to February, and had asked that the matter be postponed for a week only.

The case was then set down for November 14.

Prosecutor Xenie Rossouw initially told the court that senior prosecutor Daniel Cloete, from the Parow Regional Court, would deal with the case in the Goodwood Magistrate's Court, but that he was currently on leave.

She said neither she nor the senior prosecuting authorities had been able to reach him to determine a suitable date for the trial, but that a date in February next year had been suggested by the authorities.

Prosecutor Cloete, at an earlier hearing, told the court that the Yengeni matter was linked to the case involving the former commander of the Goodwood police station, Siphiwo Hewana.

Hewana allegedly interfered with Yengeni's blood sample, which had to be sent for forensic analysis to determine Yengeni's blood-alcohol level. Instead of sealing the sample and locking it in a safe, as he had to do, Hewana allegedly left the unsealed sample in an unlocked drawer in his office.

For this, Hewana faced charges of attempting to defeat the ends of justice, incitement to commit perjury and interfering with the Yengeni investigation.

Hewana himself was due to appear in the Parow Regional Court on October 13.

Yengeni was arrested for alleged drunken driving in the early hours of September 17 last year.

- SAPA