Removal of fraudster from hospital ahead of appeal hearing 'unnecessary'

Barely 24 hours before Jacob Zuma's former financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, was due to make his final bid for freedom, the convicted fraudster was sent back to jail.

And Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour insists that Shaik - whose appeal against his conviction and 15-year sentence for fraud and corruption was to be heard by the Constitutional Court this morning - will return to an outside hospital only if, and when, he says so.

Shaik's brother Yunus believes his sudden move back to jail, right before his appeal, was "unnecessary".

"His family, especially his wife, are all very stressed about his appeal … this has only added to that stress," he said, after revealing that the family had first heard of Shaik's return to jail at 4am yesterday.

"One of my brothers received a call from the prison authorities notifying him that Schabir had been moved," he said, after earlier revealing that the Shaik family had no idea that Correctional Services authorities had decided to relocate his brother.

As yet, none of the brothers had been able to speak to Shaik.

"We had all come to Johannesburg to fight this court case, so we have not been able to contact him," Yunus Shaik said. He earlier said Shaik had been very upset about claims that he was receiving special treatment in jail.

Shaik has spent more than a month being treated at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital.

Westville Prison referred him to the Durban state hospital more than a month ago, after he had spent two months at the prison's infirmary and a further 83 days at St Augustine's private hospital.

But Shaik's time at the hospital, where he stayed in a single ward under constant guard, came to an end in the early hours of yesterday morning - after a doctor employed by Correctional Services told Balfour the night before that he could be discharged.

Shaik was then moved back to Durban Westville Correctional Centre Hospital.

In a tersely worded statement to parliament's correctional services portfolio committee yesterday, Balfour said: "As of 6am this morning Schabir Shaik is back in prison."

On claims that Shaik had received special treatment in jail, Balfour said: "There is no preferential treatment. I don't listen to what the media says, my job is to ensure that he is back where he belongs."

Balfour's spokesperson, Manelisi Wolela, said: "Minister Balfour has also ordered that any future referrals to outside facilities be finalised only after consultation with the national leadership of the department."

The Shaik family have declined to comment on the exact nature of Shaik's illness, described as a combination of hypertension and depression. Yunus Shaik was only prepared to say his brother's medical condition was "serious".

Yunus and some of his brothers were expected to attend this morning's proceedings in the Constitutional Court, where they were to come face to face with the prosecuting team that got Shaik convicted of fraud and corruption linked to his relationship with Zuma.

While Shaik's appeal relies heavily on the Constitutional Court allowing him to admit the entire record of the state's aborted case against Zuma and French arms company Thint into evidence, his lawyers want to argue that the state's failure to charge the three together amounted to a violation of Shaik's rights.

Shaik's legal team have also accused state advocate Billy Downer SC, who led Shaik's prosecution in the Durban High Court, of acting both as Shaik's investigator and prosecutor.

They have branded his "dual role" as an instance of "gross prosecutorial misconduct", which compromised Shaik's right to a fair trial.

Shaik also argues that his 15-year sentence is too severe.

With acknowledgements to Karyn Maughan and The Star.