Yengeni misses appeal deadline

The deadline for former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni to ask the president of the Supreme Court of Appeal for leave to appeal has come and gone, without a word from Yengeni or his legal team. A spokesperson for the registrar's office at the Supreme Court told Beeld at the weekend that the deadline was last Monday. He said that, strictly speaking, Yengeni now had to present himself at prison to start serving his sentence. Yengeni was sentenced to four years' jail by Pretoria commercial crimes court after he entered a plea bargain, admitting to defrauding parliament in connection with a discount he got on a Mercedes-Benz from a bidder in the arms deal. He appealed to the High Court, but the judges confirmed the sentence.