Yengeni kept on ice over drink charge

More than a year after Tony Yengeni was arrested for drunk driving, the National Prosecuting Authority has yet to decide whether to prosecute him.

The ANC's former chief whip has applied to have the charges against him withdrawn.

He was due yesterday to hear NPA head Mxolisi Nxasana's decision on whether prosecution would go ahead.

However, earlier this week Yengeni's lawyer, Sylvester Vogel, received a message from the authority saying a decision had not yet been made.

Vogel said the NPA told him it was waiting for "communication" from the director of prosecutions in the Western Cape, Rodney de Kock.

Yengeni was arrested in Cape Town last year when city police spotted him driving erratically.

Yengeni was found to be substantially over the legal blood-alcohol level of 0.05% and a blood sample was taken from him for laboratory testing.

De Kock turned down Yengeni's representations last month to have the case dismissed and ordered that he should be prosecuted.

Yengeni then appealed to Nxasana.

"The festive season is upon us. I request that the matter be postponed until January to obtain the necessary information," Vogel told the court.

Yengeni's R500 bail was extended and the matter was postponed to January 28.

He was arrested on similar charges in 2007 but was acquitted after the court found his blood sample was not sent for forensic analysis.