Judge Siraj Desai, chairman of a prisons advisory body, has conceded that public confidence in the parole system has been dented by recent cases, including the release on medical parole of convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik.

Judge Desai, who heads the National Council for Correctional Services, told Parliament's portfolio committee yesterday that Shaik's release in March was one of a series of incidents in past months which "diminished the credibility of the parole system".

"Steps should be taken to remedy the situation," Judge Desai told The Star afterwards.

"The legislation should also be amended to give the chairman of the council the right to review parole. Currently, only the minister (and the correctional services commissioner) can order such a review."

He said the council's review of medical parole provisions - which would be amended to include not only terminally ill prisoners but also those seriously ill - would go some way towards remedying the situation. The bill would be ready for discussion before the end of next month.

Judge Desai said he was referring not only to Shaik, but to a range of cases.

Shaik, given a mandatory 15-year sentence for fraud, was released on medical parole after serving two years and four months of the sentence.

Both the former and the present correctional services ministers - Ngconde Balfour and Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula - refused to send the decision on Shaik for review.

It was revealed recently that he had applied for a presidential pardon in April last year.

The DA spokesman on correctional services, James Selfe, said it was believed that Shaik did not qualify for release. "This scepticism undermined the credibility of the parole system as a whole," he said.

Committee chairman and ANC MP Vincent Smith said there was a need to review the entire parole system.