Schabir Shaik

Convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik has had his free time curtailed and faces a return to prison if he violates his parole again, the Department of Correctional Services said yesterday.

Shaik, who admitted violating conditions of his medical parole in Durban last week, was given a formal warning and had his free movement on Sundays cut to two hours from six.

If he breaks his conditions again, he will be issued with a warrant of detention, which will mean going back into custody. Any further violation will result in exactly that, correctional services spokesman Sonwabo Mbananga said yesterday.

The sanctions against Shaik, who was paroled in March after serving only two years and four months of his 15-year sentence for corruption, will do little, however, to quell the perception that his release from custody on medical grounds was a case of preferential treatment for a friend of the president.

Shaik was President Jacob Zuma's former financial adviser.

With every passing day and with every utterance from his foul mouth, it becomes increasingly clear that there is nothing medically wrong with Shaik, and that there never was, opposition Democratic Alliance correctional services spokesman James Selfe said.

The decision to grant him medical parole was clearly illegal and politically motivated, and the minister's decision not to refer this decision for review constitutes a cop-out and a cover-up of note.

Mbananga said, however, Shaik's medical parole was not the issue at hand. We are not dealing with the correctness or incorrectness of giving Shaik parole on medical grounds. That is not an issue for us. We are dealing with a parolee who has violated (conditions provided).

Shaik, whose 15-year sentence for corruption, including soliciting a bribe for Zuma, admitted violating the conditions of his parole to a correctional services officer. His original parole officer has been replaced by a higher-ranking one in his Durban-Westville management area.

Asked why such a high-profile prisoner had a low-level official watching over him, Mbananga said Shaik's profile was not a consideration.

We are guided purely by the constitution and parameters of the laws that give power to the department.

As part of his punishment, Shaik will no longer be allowed to visit his doctor's rooms for consultation but will have to consult at home or at a venue determined by his parole officer.

While his free hours of movement have been curtailed, he remains free to attend mosque on Fridays.

blebym@bdfm.co.za

With acknowledgements to Michael Bleby and Business Day.