Monday, January 15, 2007

Yengeni released today

By Nadia Samie
15 January 2006


Former ANC Chief Whip, Tony Yengeni, walked out of Malmesbury Prison today, but this does not mean that he is a free man. Yengeni will be under house arrest and must report to a police station daily.

Walking through the prison gates after 10AM on Monday morning, Yengeni maintained his innocence, and branded his imprisonment a "mistake". A Correctional Services official said that Yengeni was not allowed to speak to the media.

Yengeni will be expected to complete 16 hours of community service per month and he will not be allowed to leave the district where he lives. These and other parole conditions will remain in place until 2008.

Yengeni was visited in prison by Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour last night. The purpose of the visit was to brief the Yengeni family on the parole conditions. Balfour told Yengeni that failure to comply with the conditions could see him back behind bars.

His four-year jail term was shortened to 28 months after President Thabo Mbeki granted him a general amnesty. He has served four months of that sentence in jail, and will serve the rest under correctional supervision.

The former chief whip was found guilty in 2003 of defrauding Parliament by failing to disclose a huge discount on a luxury 4X4 Mercedes-Benz.

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