Pretoria - The fraud and corruption trial of former African National Congress chief whip Tony Yengeni and businessman Michael Woerfel appears set to get under way on Wednesday.

A possible settlement deal between Yengeni and the State - raised on Tuesday morning - had not materialised by late afternoon, prosecutor Jan Henning, SC, said in Pretoria.

Documents outlining the envisaged agreement were not presented to prosecuting authorities by the 16:00 deadline laid down by Pretoria's commercial crimes court in the morning.

"We have received nothing yet," Henning said at 17:30. "We are preparing as if for trial tomorrow."

Earlier in the day the court postponed the trial until Wednesday to give Yengeni's lawyers time to negotiate a settlement with the State.

The trial, which has been postponed a number of times since July last year, was to have started on Tuesday.

At the start of proceedings, Yengeni's defence counsel, Viwe Notshe, SC, asked for a postponement until Wednesday as settlement negotiations had not yet been finalised. Woerfel was not involved in the talks.

"A postponement may be seen like a waste of time, but I submit that in the long run the negotiations are aimed at trying to shorten the trial by coming to some sort of agreement with the State," Notshe contended.

No document

Henning said the State received a proposal from Yengeni's counsel last Wednesday, which it rejected.

Another proposal was submitted on Friday, upon which the State pointed out areas with which it was not satisfied.

Later that same day, Henning said, "we were informed that all our requirements had been met and that we would by Monday receive a signed document."

By Tuesday morning that had not yet happened.

Henning asked for a postponement not to exceed 14:00 on Tuesday. That would allow the State enough time to arrange its witnesses for Wednesday, should no agreement be reached.

Witnesses lined up included Mercedes Benz SA managing director Christoph Kupke.

Henning expressed concern about indications by Notshe that he had no instructions to continue with the trial should no deal be clinched.

"We need to have clarity in order to plan the way forward."

Magistrate Bill Moyses granted a postponement until Wednesday morning. He gave Yengeni's legal team until 16:00 on Tuesday to inform the State whether its requirements for a settlement had been met.

If no deal was reached, the trial had to proceed on Wednesday regardless of whether Notshe had received instructions from his client, Moyses ruled.

Yengeni faces a charge of corruption for allegedly buying a luxury 4X4 Mercedes at a 47% discount in return for using his influence to "market" the products of Daimler-Benz Aerospace AG or Daimler-Benz Aerospace SA.

He faces an alternative count of fraud for failing to disclose the benefit to Parliament.

Woerfel, then head of Daimler-Benz's Pretoria representative office, is charged with corruption for allegedly arranging the deal.

Fraud charges

Daimler-Benz was the manufacturer of the AT2000 - which was at the time being considered with two other aircraft in South Africa's search for an advanced light fighter aircraft in terms of the arms acquisition process.

Both men face a charge of fraud for alleged false representations made in the agreement of sale drawn up for the car deal.

They have pleaded not guilty.

The trial was initially to have started in July last year, but was delayed several times by extensive legal wrangling over the charge sheet.

Last month the matter was postponed yet again due to Yengeni's appointment of a new legal team. According to newspaper reports at the time, previous counsel withdrew because Yengeni allegedly owed them about R800 000.

Earlier this month, the Legal Aid Board dismissed an appeal by Yengeni against its refusal to grant him legal aid. His initial application was turned down because his earnings were too high for him to qualify.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and News24.