Bafana Bafana and Everton midfielder Steven Pienaar is to appear in court next month to answer speeding allegations after being released on bail yesterday.

Pienaar, currently on loan to Everton from Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur, failed to appear in the Chelmsford Magistrate's Court on Monday, a court spokesman confirmed.

The 30-year-old was due to face charges of failing to disclose who was driving his Aston Martin DBS after it was twice caught speeding in Chigwell, east of London, on two separate days in October.

The allegations were proved in Pienaar's absence and a judge ordered he be granted bail until his appearance on a date still to be set.

Pienaar's lawyer, Gwynn Lewis, later insisted his client was not aware there were proceedings against him.

"Steven has moved swiftly to resolve this misunderstanding.

''He responded immediately to the warrant and made a pre-arranged visit to a police station in Cheshire today and was subsequently given unconditional bail to appear at Chelmsford Magistrate's Court next month.

"Mr Pienaar was totally unaware of the court date due to moving to Merseyside in February as the correspondence from the court had been sent to his old address in Essex," Lewis said.