The drunk driving charge against former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni has not been dropped, a prosecutor at the Parow Regional Court in Cape Town confirmed on Wednesday.

The prosecutor, who wished to remain anonymous, said earlier reports, indicating that charges against the ANC National Executive Committee member and convicted fraudster had been dropped because a blood sample was tampered with, were incorrect.

He said it resulted from a "misinterpretation" of the preamble to the charge sheet of former Goodwood police commissioner Sephiwo Hewana, who appeared in court on Wednesday.

Hewana was facing three charges: defeating the ends of justice, inciting perjury and interfering with members of the police.

Yengeni still faced a main count of drunk driving and an alternative count of reckless and negligent driving.

The blood samples which had allegedly been tampered with, "precluded the state from preferring a charge of contravening section 65(2)(a) of the aforesaid [Road Traffic Act] act against Yengeni", read the charge sheet.

Section 65 (2)(a) points to an alternative charge, and not the main count, of driving a motor vehicle whilst the concentration of alcohol in one's blood exceeded the statutory limit.

Yengeni was arrested in November last year after allegedly driving drunk along Giel Basson Drive in Cape Town and landing his black BMW on an island.

Yengeni was at the time and remains out on parole after his 2003 conviction for defrauding Parliament by failing to disclose a 47 percent discount on a 4X4 Mercedes-Benz.

His parole conditions included a stipulation that Yengeni may not use liquor or drugs - other than those prescribed by a doctor - until 23 September 2008, nor may he visit any place where liquor is consumed.

The prosecutor added that Yengeni was still due to appear in court on 5 May after the case against him was postponed to that date on 19 March.

Hewana was suspended about a month after the incident, and subjected to a disciplinary hearing, after he allegedly made conflicting statements about the time Yengeni was arrested.

He was subsequently found guilty of serious misconduct during the internal disciplinary hearings and dismissed.

He now faces criminal charges related to the incident. The case against him was postponed on Wednesday to 16 May.

Sapa