Former African National Congress chief whip and fraud convict Tony Yengeni will be hauled before a Correctional Services Department hearing for his alleged breach of the parole code of conduct, the department said on Monday.
Yengeni, who was granted parole for the past weekend, is being investigated following claims he contravened the prisoner code of conduct by consuming alcohol and arriving back late at Malmesbury Prison, where he is serving a four-year sentence.
”The management [of the prison] where Yengeni is serving his sentence will conduct an investigation to establish whether the offender contravened the disciplinary code,” said Correctional Services Department spokesperson Manelisi Wolela.
He said Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour was not happy with Yengeni’s late arrival.
Opposition parties were equally outraged by the former ANC heavyweight’s alleged conduct.
The Democratic Alliance called for the cancellation of all Yengeni’s future weekend passes.
”Yengeni’s flagrant disregard for the rules governing his parole indicates his lack of remorse for the crimes he has committed and proves that he thinks he is above the law,” said DA spokesperson James Selfe.
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille said if reports of his misconduct were true, Yengeni should not be released early from prison.
”In fact, if this kind of behaviour continues, then the law would require that Yengeni not be released early and should instead complete his full four-year sentence,” she said.
The South African Prisoners’ Organisation for Human Rights (SAPOHR) accused the department of applying double standards in Yengeni’s case.
”Section 44 of the Correctional Services Act was specifically compiled to help ease reintegration and family reunification of a prisoner that has been in prison for a long period of time,” SAPOHR president Miles Bhudu said, arguing Yengeni did not qualify for weekend parole as he had been in prison for less than three months.
Yengeni, who was sentenced to fours years imprisonment in 2003 after being convicted on fraud charges related to his acceptance of a discount on a Mercedes-Benz from one of the bidders in the multibillion-rand arms deal, was due for release on January 15th.
Wolela said he was not in a position to say whether Yengeni would still qualify for early release in the event of him being found guilty by the correctional supervision disciplinary committee.
”I don’t think its a good idea to speculate, let’s rather wait for the outcome of the hearing,” he said.
The Inkatha Freedom Party said Yengeni’s alleged transgression was so serious that the department should tell South Africans what action it intended to take.
”We need answers on what sort of punishment will be handed down on him in relation to his late arrival at Malmesbury prison, as well as him being pictured drinking alcohol, which is not allowed as stipulated by his parole conditions,” said IFP spokesperson Sybil Seaton. – Sapa