Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Tony Yengeni, who were both sentenced to imprisonment in the first part of the year, did not deserve to go to jail.

This is the view of the head of the national prosecuting authority (NPA), Bulelani Ngcuka, who was responsible for laying charges against them.

Ngcuka this week told City Press his office would not oppose the appeals lodged by Madikizela-Mandela and Yengeni in their bids to stay out of jail.

In an exclusive interview with City Press, Ngcuka said the sentences of Madikizela-Mandela to five years imprisonment and Yengeni to four years were "excessive".

Although defending his office's decision to charge both of them, Ngcuka said "The sentence [against Yengeni] was too excessive. As the state, we did not ask for imprisonment. You must remember Tony was charged for failure to disclose [information] to Parliament. We do not believe the sentence merited Tony going to jail."

Regarding Madikizela-Mandela, Ngcuka said her sentence continued to concern him. "The sentence was equally excessive. The sentence does not conform to the type of society we are trying to build in this country. A caring society does not send its grandmothers to prison.

"Madikizela-Mandela has suffered more than most of us. You cannot forget that because she has erred," he said.

Yengeni was sentenced by the commercial crimes court in Pretoria to four years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to fraud in terms of a plea agreement with the state. The charges related to a 47 percent discount he received on a luxury 4x4 Mercedes Benz in 1998, which was not disclosed to Parliament.

Should the appeal not succeed, Yengeni could be considered for correctional supervision after serving eight months. The court said Yengeni had shown no remorse and he had held it to ransom for a long time.

Madikizela-Mandela was given a five-year jail term after being convicted of involvement in a bank loans scam. Both Madikezela-Mandela and Yengeni could not be reached for comment on Ngcuka's statement

Meanwhile, Ngcuka is working around the clock to finalise two investigations his office launched against two ANC heavyweights - Deputy President Jacob Zuma and former transport minister Mac Maharaj.

The NPA has been probing claims that Zuma had allegedly solicited a bribe from a defence contractor, Thales, through his financial adviser Schabir Shaik.

Shaik was a key figure in the country's R43 billion arms deal through his position as chief executive officer of Nkobi Holdings. The Scorpions are expected to question Shaik on Tuesday regarding his relationship with Maharaj. Maharaj is under investigation following reports that he and his wife had received payments and gifts from Shaik worth more than R500 000. The Scorpions are trying to piece information together to see whether the payments Maharaj received could have been kickbacks following the awarding of contracts to a company linked to Shaik by the transport department.

The contracts were the driver's licence award and the R2,5 billion N3 tollroad concession.

See full Ngcuka interview on Page 19

With acknowledgements to Jimmy Seepe and the City Press.