Fraud convict Tony Yengeni looks set to receive a warm welcome when he is released on parole from Malmesbury Prison on Monday morning.
The African National Congress (ANC) in the Western Cape said on Friday several of its senior members will be there to greet their party’s former chief whip, including provincial secretary Mcebisi Skwatsha and chairperson James Ngculu.
It is understood the release will take place at 11am, although repeated attempts by phone and e-mail to confirm the time and place with Department of Correctional Services spokesperson Luphumzo Kebeni have been unsuccessful.
According to Skwatsha, Yengeni and his followers will proceed from Malmesbury to his father’s house in Guguletu, where a ceremony will be held to mark his release from jail.
”We expect ANC supporters to gather at both the Malmesbury prison as well as the Guguletu sports complex near Tony’s father’s house to welcome him.
”The ANC Western Cape provincial chairperson [Ngculu] will not be at the prison to welcome Yengeni, but will wait in Guguletu to welcome him as he arrives at his father’s house, where a prayer will be held upon his arrival,” Skwatsha told the South African Press Association on Friday.
The Cape Argus newspaper reported Ngculu as saying there was no plan to hold a public show to pledge solidarity with Yengeni, but his family would conduct a ”cleansing ritual” by slaughtering a goat or sheep.
Convicted in 2003 of defrauding Parliament by failing to disclose a 47% discount on a luxury 4X4 Mercedes-Benz, Yengeni has served a fraction of the four-year sentence he received for his crime.
He started the sentence on August 24 last year, reporting to Pollsmoor Prison in Cape Town. Several senior ANC officials and Cabinet ministers were present at the gates of the prison to bid the popular former politician farewell.
Among them were Housing Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and National Assembly Speaker Baleke Mbete.
Correctional services announced in November last year that Yengeni would have served one-sixth of his sentence by January 13, allowing it to be converted to correctional supervision after that date.
It is understood that under the conditions of his parole, Yengeni will have to perform 16 hours of community service a week, not be allowed to drink alcohol and ”not be allowed to be in the company of many people”.
In the absence of hard information from correctional services on the timing and place of his release, speculation was rife among journalists in Cape Town on Friday as to exactly when and where this would happen.
Among these is that Yengeni may well be brought through to Cape Town by prison officials, and released on parole from a correctional-services office in the city centre.
This is understood to be in line with normal procedure for prisoners going on parole who reside in the Cape Town area. Yengeni’s residence is in the suburb of Milnerton.
It is also speculated Yengeni might be released quietly over the course of the weekend, and have to report to correctional services on Monday morning to hear his parole conditions. — Sapa