Henning won't do Yengeni case

2003-12-15 08:58

Sonja Carstens

Johannesburg - The deputy director of the national prosecuting authority, Jan Henning, won't be in charge of Tony Yengeni's appeal against a four-year sentence.

Yengeni was given the sentence for misleading parliament about gifts and other benefits he gained from the arms transaction.

Scorpions boss Bulelani Ngcuka earlier said the former chief whip of the ANC doesn't belong behind bars.

Henning refused to say why he would not handle Yengeni's appeal.

Gerda Ferreira, who prosecuted Yengeni in conjunction with Henning, will also not handle the appeal case, because she has resigned.

Ferreira, who was in charge of the investigation into alleged irregularities surrounding the multi-million rand arms deal, declined to give reasons.

Ngcuka, head of the prosecuting unit, earlier said in public that he "didn't think that either Yengeni or Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, former president of the ANC Women's League, should be behind bars. He supported both their appeals.

Madikizela-Mandela was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, one year suspended, after she and her broker, Addy Moolman, falsified applications for Saambou personal loans in the name of the Women's League.

Both will spend about eight months in prison if their appeals are unsuccessful.

If the State's doesn't oppose the appeal, it means it agrees with Yengeni's legal team that the sentence was "shockingly inappropriate" and that the magistrate had made a mistake.

Sipho Ngwema, Ngcuka's spokesperson, says Henning has "asked to concentrate on his work at the prosecuting authority and to concentrate on court management as well as to catch up with the back-log of court cases.

"There's no link between Ngcuka's viewpoint and Henning's decision," Ngwema says.

- Beeld