/ 13 November 2006

Yengeni arrives late at prison due to ‘car trouble’

Former African National Congress chief whip and fraud convict Tony Yengeni

arrived late at Malmesbury prison due to car trouble, Beeld newspaper reported on Monday.

Accompanied by two vehicles, Yengeni, who was out on weekend parole, arrived more than an hour late — a breach of the code of conduct for prisoners.

According to the paper, Yengeni had telephoned prison officials to inform them of the delay.

Correctional Services spokesperson Manelisi Wolela said Minister Ngconde Balfour was reportedly not happy with Yengeni’s late arrival. Parole conditions stipulated that prisoners out on parole had to be home by 8pm and should not drink.

The Star newpspaper published a photgraph of Yengeni on Monday showing him and his friends in his garden in Cape Town on Sunday. Yengeni is holding a bottle of beer. Parole conditions apparently prohibit the use of alcohol.

The paper said his friends had arrived at his home on Sunday afternoon clutching bottles of cognac and wine.

The department denied on Sunday that Yengeni would be having every weekend off from now on. – Sapa