YENGENI: HAS THIS BEEN THE MOST LENIENT PRISON STAY EVER?
Tony Yengeni’s release from Malmesbury prison on Monday constitutes the last act in the farce that has characterised his imprisonment, DA correctional services spokesperson James Selfe said on Sunday.
“As his time behind bars comes to an early end, the public can only be left bemused by what has seemingly been one of the lightest punishments received by a convicted fraudster. Not only has Mr Yengeni’s four year sentence been reduced to almost nothing, but he has been given preferential treatment throughout, in many cases involving severe breaches of the rules,” said Selfe.
Selfe said that the ANC had set an appalling example throughout this saga, which can only serve to deal a severe blow to the fight against corruption.
“Apart from sending the message that if you are a well connected ANC member you can get away with criminal activities, the Yengeni saga has totally undermined the aim of the Department of Correctional Services to rehabilitate prisoners. Rewarding unrepentant prisoners who have committed parole violations with preferential prison privileges and early release makes a mockery of rehabilitation, which is supposed to reward only truly reformed prisoners and keep unrepentant offenders behind bars,” he said.
Selfe has already requested that Sipho Manqele, the Correctional Services district commissioner under whose jurisdiction Malmesbury Prison falls, appears urgently before the Portfolio Committee to explain Mr Yengeni’s alleged Christmas party, as well as the litany of irregularities that have come to define his sentence.
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