20091222
allafrica

Johannesburg — CORRECTIONAL Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has called for a report on convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik's alleged violation of his parole conditions.

Shaik has been accused of breaching his parole conditions a number of times, but has denied any wrongdoing. The Department of Correctional Services has described the investigation as urgent.

Shaik was in the spotlight again when weekend newspapers reported he had breached his parole conditions. City Press photographed Shaik on Wednesday just before 9.30am at a Durban grocery store.

The Presidency confirmed yesterday that Shaik had applied for a pardon, and President Jacob Zuma was considering it. Presidential spokesman Vincent Magwenya said Shaik's pardon application was one of a number, and was not receiving any special treatment.

Mapisa-Nqakula's spokesman, Sonwabo Mbananga, said yesterday she would only ask the parole board to review Shaik's parole after she had obtained a report from the Department of Correctional Services in KwaZulu-Natal.

Sonwabo said this was to "test the veracity of the allegations published in the newspapers".

The Democratic Alliance's (DA's) James Selfe said Mapisa-Nqakula had told him that she wanted a report from KwaZulu-Natal by close of business yesterday.

This follows Selfe's request on Sunday for an investigation.

Selfe said he told the minister that an investigation was "essential" as the credibility of the parole system was at stake.

The power to investigate a parole violation has been delegated by the national commissioner of correctional services to the department's branch dealing with community correction in a region, in this case KwaZulu-Natal.

Should a violation be verified, it could result in a verbal warning, written warning, final written warning or warrant of arrest, depending on the severity of the violation.

Shaik, who was Zuma's former financial adviser, was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2005 for fraud and corruption, related to the multibillion-rand arms deal.

He was released on medical parole earlier this year after serving two years and four months of his sentence.

Shaik's release was controversial because medical parole is, in terms of the law, granted only to those in the final stages of a terminal illness.

But reports of Shaik on the golf course, at restaurants and driving around Durban have appeared intermittently in the press since his release.

The details of Shaik's parole conditions are unclear.

He is reportedly allowed to leave his house after noon until 4pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Also, according to a reply to a DA question in Parliament, Shaik may leave his house on Wednesdays between 10.30am and 12.30pm for physiotherapy.

But City Press and Rapport journalist Julian Rademeyer, who photographed Shaik, told Business Day that Shaik had left his house twice last week, on Tuesday and Wednesday - both outside his appointed times.

The Congress of the People (COPE) welcomed the investigation, saying: "There cannot be one law for the elite and another for ordinary South Africans.

"Mr Shaik is a convicted criminal, and should not look to circumvent paying his debt back to society."

COPE spokesman Phillip Dexter condemned the possible pardon of Shaik, saying: "Indeed, we anticipate that sooner rather than later Shaik's name will be mentioned in a list of potential executive pardons. COPE condemns this in advance."