Former ANC chief whip and convicted fraudster Tony Yengeni is wearing a prisoner's uniform and is being treated like any other offender in jail, according to Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour.

Balfour was responding to a question in the National Assembly about Yengeni's alleged special treatment in prison.

The DA's Rafeek Shah said Yengeni reportedly had a special bed and a 74cm TV set in his cell.

He said it had been reported that Yengeni was not subjected to the normal admission procedure.

Balfour replied that Yengeni was no different to any other offender in prison.

"Our prisons have got plus/minus 167 000 offenders and definitely we cannot be focusing our eyes on one offender when we have 167 000 offenders.

"Mr Yengeni is being treated as any other offender. Tony Yengeni is wearing the clothes that any offender wears and unfortunately I am not going to lower myself to that level of concentrating on one offender when I have 167 000 offenders and the same treatment is meted out to all of them," said Balfour yesterday.

Yengeni was moved to Malmesbury prison from the overcrowded Pollsmoor Prison last week, hours after he reported to serve his jail term.

The correctional services ministry said Yengeni was moved at his own request.

The ministry's spokesman, Luphumzo Kebeni, said prisoners who had not been convicted of violent crime could request which prison they wanted to be transferred to. However, this request was subject to an assessment of the prisoner accommodation and rehabilitation programme.

Kebeni said the overcrowded Pollsmoor was a prisoner admissions centre and Yengeni would have left immediately after being processed.

He said Yengeni would be wearing a uniform in prison and did not have a cellphone, as some reports have suggested.

Yengeni's prison send-off last week was attended by top ANC leaders, including the minister in the presidency Essop Pahad, who had visited Yengeni at his Milnerton home hours before he reported to Pollsmoor.

Balfour had been present at Pollsmoor prison when Yengeni arrived. Kebeni said this was to ensure "due process was followed", as Yengeni's was a high profile case.

Balfour told parliament yesterday that prisoners were no longer strip-searched and frog marched to humiliate them on admission.

"We don't do it anymore. We sit down with an offender, explain the process of administration, explain the sentence and explain the rehabilitation path every offender has got to take. We don't try to do all those things that were done before we were Correctional Services and I'm very thankful and grateful for that," said Balfour.

Yengeni is serving a four-month prison sentence. He was convicted of fraud after he failed to disclose the discount he had received on a luxury 4x4 from a business involved in South Africa's arms deal bid.

With acknowledgement to the Cape Argus.