Govt 'broke promise' on Yengeni

2007-04-09 13:55

Johannesburg- Withholding information on fraudster Tony Yengeni's parole conditions amounted to a breach of a promise made by Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour to the public of South Africa, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Monday.

"The rejection of the request [for information] is a breach of the promise that the Minister of Correctional Services made to the public of South Africa that he would ensure that the DCS was open, transparent and accountable in all its dealings," said the opposition party's spokesperson on correctional services James Selfe.

"In addition, DCS [correctional services] is always saying that correctional supervision is a societal responsibility. Society cannot understand its responsibility in respect to Tony Yengeni's conditions unless it knows what the conditions are."

Selfe's statement followed the rejection of an application by the DA to the department for Yengeni's parole conditions.

The DA's application, through the Promotion of Access to Information Act, was declined by the department saying the request for "record[s] pertaining...to his sentence for fraud" was "too wide", according to the party.

Selfe said the department had deliberately misunderstood the request. He said the request was "not a 'wide' concept" rather a "simple request which entails accessing a file".

Yengeni was convicted in 2003 of defrauding parliament by failing to disclose a 47% discount on a luxury 4X4 Mercedes-Benz.

He failed to win an appeal against his four-year sentence and was sent to the Malmesbury prison in August last year.

His time in prison, while brief, was characterised by controversy - he was investigated after he contravened the prisoner code of conduct by consuming alcohol and arriving late back at the prison during weekend parole.

He was reportedly given preferential treatment over Christmas when he enjoyed a lavish private meal with his wife.

The department was not immediately available for comment.

- SAPA