Publication	Independent on Saturday
Date	2005-11-12
Reporter	Zelda Venter
Web Link	www.tios.co.za

Last-gasp effort to avoid jail

In a desperate last bid to stay out of jail, former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni has given instructions to his legal team to apply for leave to appeal to the Appeal Court in Bloemfontein. In the meantime he will remain out on bail.

Yengeni has 14 days to note his intention to seek leave to appeal or else he will have to report to jail to serve his effective eight-month jail sentence.

In his summing up, Judge Eberhardt Bertelsmann slammed both former justice minister Penuell Maduna and then director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka for meeting Yengeni over plea bargain negotiations.

Bertelsmann called this move by the top guns "unwise". He said it had been unwise for Yengeni to seek the aid of the minister. The mere fact of doing so might create the impression that he was seeking the support of a politically powerful ally to influence the director's decision in his favour on grounds that had more to do with political connectivity than with the merits of his case.

By the same token, Bertelsmann said, it had been unwise for Maduna to participate in the discussions at all as it might create the impression that he was exerting improper political pressure on the office of the NDPP.

Lastly, he said, it had been ill-advised for Ngcuka to be seen to participate in the discussions.

Outside the court afterwards Yengeni's lawyer, Marius du Toit, said: "We are disappointed, but it's not the end of the road."

The court found that Yengeni's sentence was, in any event, lenient, and that a non-custodial sentence for the crime he was convicted of would be "flagrantly inappropriate".

Bertelsmann, in a judgment with which Judge Ferdi Preller concurred, said Yengeni's crime was one of greed, not need *1, and he had grossly abused his position of trust. He was, on his own showing, the initiator of the dishonest deal.

Bertelsmann added that the court, in fact, had considered increasing Yengeni's sentence.

Instead, he confirmed Yengeni's four-year jail sentence (of which he must serve an effective eight months) as imposed by the Specialised Commercial Crimes court in 2003.

Bertelsmann said the fact that Yengeni had resigned from parliament was not a mitigating factor. The removal of a corrupt or dishonest official from a position of trust was not a punishment but a "natural consequence of such unfitness".

Yengeni's problems started when he accepted a 47% discount on a luxury 4x4 vehicle from a company which was a shareholder of one of the potential suppliers of arms in the government's multibillion- rand arms deal. Yengeni, who was involved with the arms deal *2, did not disclose his car deal to parliament.

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*1  Three Mercs, including a little sporty number for a lady friend.

*2  As Chairman of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Defence, who had to be substantially buttered up to give safe passage of this massive and illogical deal through its stages, including the Defence Review and Force Design.

But what about the following recipients of EADS's Micky Woerfel's generosity :

[Note : Woerfel is listed for four vehicles and Debis Fleet for another. As Ron Haywood, Schabir Shaik and Jacob Zuma also got discounted cars, and Yengeni got three, these might fall under Woerfel's and Debis's names.]

Vehicles Date Client EADS Purchase Price Retail Price EADS Sales Price Percent Discount

MB E 320 AMG 1998-10-08 Nyanda R291 310,25 R392 310,25 R324 580,20 17,26%
MB ML 320 1998-10-25 Yengeni R307 458,63 R349 950,00 R182 563,63 47,83%
Colt Rodeo 3.0 1998-12-21 Msomi R125 892,11 N/A R102 365,00 N/A
MB E 320 1998-12-15 Msomi R250 800,00 N/A R195 885,00 N/A
Chrysler Voyager 1999-05-15 Sexwale R247 088,16 R282 548,00 R248 001,30 12,23%
MB ML 320 1999-06-23 Swan R335 654,82 R359 950,00 R250 002,00 30,50%
MB C 250 TD 1999-07-07 Pillay R174 650,00 R198 650,00 R141 000,90 29,02%
MB E 430 AMG 2000-02-11 debisFleet R374 453,82 N/A R375 000,00 N/A
MB ML320 2000-03-31 Kunene R303 072,01 N/A R255 000,98 N/A
Honda Ballade 180 2000-08-01 Muhle R89 403,37 N/A R96 000,00 N/A
Colt 2.0 STD 2000-08-07 EADS/Kunene R74 715,00 R90 600,00 R80 000,00 11,70%
MB ML 270 CDI 2000-08-10 Ncumani R284 231,04 R350 000,00 R301 530,00 13,85%
MB C 240A 2000-09-21 Erasmus R133 582,92 N/A R156 579,00 N/A
MB ML 430 2000-10-12 Kunene R346 203,18 N/A R335 000,00 N/A
MB E 320 AMG 2000-02-? Woerfel R275 414,52 N/A R230 000,00 N/A
MB ML 320 2000-10-12 Woerfel R311 126,48 N/A R255 000,90 N/A
MB C 180 A 2000-11-01 Woerfel R113 223,89 N/A R165 000,00 N/A
MB S320A 2000-11-21 Woerfel R253 374,19 N/A R375 000,00 N/A
Honda Ballade 150 2000-11-27 Ngema R65 000,00 N/A R70 000,00 N/A
MB C 180A 2000-12-18 Yengeni R174 845,01 R194 250,00 R185 000,00 4,76%
MB S 320 A 2001-01-18 Nyanda R404 006,63 R494 750,00 R420 000,00 15,11%
MB E320 AMG 2001-01-29 McCarty R220 700,80 N/A R234 000,00 N/A
MB C 180 M 2001-01-05 Tulwana R152 325,00 R169 250,00 R161 250,00 4,73%
MB ML 270 CDI 2001-01-26 Foster R296 460,00 R360 000,00 R305 000,00 15,28%
MB SLK 230 A 2001-01-29 Kavidi R325 282,50 R395 000,00 R370 000,00 6,33%
MBE240 A 2001-02-15 Beukes R237 991,50 R289 000,00 R267 000,00 7,61%
MB C 200 KA 2001-02-15 Smit R183 064,05 R230 855,00 R194 070,00 15,93%
MB C 180 A 2001-02-15 Verwey R153 788,62 R186 750,00 R167 000,00 10,58%
MB C 270 CDI A 2001-02-28 Pretorius R191 463,75 R232 500,00 R209 250,00 10,00%
MB C 240 A 2001-03-29 Beukes R195 828,30 R237 800,00 R222 000,00 6,64%
MB C 240 A 2001-03-29 Nqose R195 828,30 R237 800,00 R230 000,00 3,28%
MB S 500 A 2001-03-29 Macquebela R542 604,16 R676 000,00 R590 000,00 12,72%