ANC glad Yengeni resigned

2003-03-05 15:38

Donwald Pressly

Cape Town - The ANC has welcomed the decision by its former chief whip, Tony Yengeni, to quit as member of parliament.

The controversial Yengeni handed his resignation to the ANC leadership on Wednesday.

Pre-empting an expected statement by Nathi Nhleko, current ANC chief whip, in the National Assembly on Wednesday afternoon, Yengeni's resignation was welcomed by ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama in a statement.

The National Assembly was scheduled to consider a draft resolution - in the name of the chief whip - to set up a multi-party committee to establish whether Yengeni deliberately misled the National Assembly.

It must in terms of the resolution report back to the assembly by March 14 (Friday week).

This, however, may fall away in the wake of Yengeni's resignation.

The committee was to consider the former chief whip's statement of March 28 last year in which he protested his innocence and claimed he legitimately purchased a 4X4 vehicle.

He has, however, subsequently pleaded guilty to fraud, and admitted he received a 47% discount on a vehicle from the head of a company involved in the arms deal. He said he had convinced his co-accused, Michael Woerfel, to arrange the deal on a Mercedes Benz ML320. Woerfel was head of the Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG's Pretoria office.

Yengeni resigned as chief whip about a year ago.

- News24