The disciplinary hearing of a suspended Western Cape police officer linked to the alleged drunken-driving arrest of Tony Yengeni began on Tuesday, police said.
Senior Superintendent Billy Jones said Goodwood station commissioner Senior Superintendent Siphiwe Hewana would face internal misconduct charges in terms of ”standing orders and regulations of service”.
The four-day hearing would continue at the provincial police office in Cape Town until the end of the week.
”This is not criminal, this is departmental,” said Jones.
Hewana was suspended without pay on December 4 2007 after he allegedly made statements that conflicted with his provincial headquarters about the time Yengeni, a former African National Congress chief whip, was arrested for drunken driving in Goodwood on the night of November 25 2007.
Shortly after the arrest, one newspaper quoted Hewana as saying Yengeni’s blood sample was taken only ”about three-and-a-half hours” later.
Yengeni was scheduled to appear in court on the drunken driving charge on March 19. — Sapa