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No special treatment for Shaik
22/05/2007 08:00 - (SA)
Johannesburg - The Inspecting Judge of Prisons has found that convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik received no special treatment while in hospital, the Star reported on Tuesday.
Following a report by the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons that Shaik's conditions were "strictly regulation," Shaik's brother Yunis has criticised the news media for "poisoning the atmosphere" ahead of his brother's hearing in the Constitutional Court.
Westville prison referred Schabir Shaik to Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban over a month ago, after he spent two months at a prison infirmary, and 83 days at St Augustine's hospital.
While at Qalakabusha prison at Empangeni, Shaik was treated for hypertension and other blood-pressure related conditions.
The Inspecting Judge of Prisons, Judge Nathan Erasmus, revealed that prior to any reports about Shaik's hospital treatment appearing in the Sunday press, he had personally sent an investigator to probe rumours about Shaik's treatment.
"We were obviously concerned about claims that Mr Shaik might be receiving preferential treatment, and felt they should be investigated.
"We therefore conducted an inspection at both the Westville prison and the hospital itself.
"We checked the prison and medical records to confirm why Mr Shaik had been sent to hospital," he said, adding that he had contacted Shaik's own physician, Dr Somalingum Ponnusamy, for confirmation about his condition.
Ponnusamy's opinion was that Shaik's condition warranted hospital treatment.
Erasmus said that while Shaik was being held in a single ward, it was "equipped only with the bare essentials," and he was under constant guard.
Shaik received no more visitors than regulations allowed, and his meals were prescribed by his doctor.
Shaik was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for fraud relating to his relationship to former deputy president Jacob Zuma.
- SAPA
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