The inspecting judge of prisons is to probe claims that fraud convict Schabir Shaik has special privileges at Durban’s plush Albert Luthuli Hospital.
The Daily News reported Judge Nathan Erasmus’s office on Friday as saying an inspectorate official would visit the hospital to investigate allegations of preferential treatment.
Members of the hospital staff, who asked not be named, said Shaik was enjoying free rein in the hospital’s general cardiac ward and did not appear to be ”overtly ill”.
According to the insiders, Shaik did not wear a prisoner uniform and was usually dressed in casual tracksuits or pyjamas.
He was being watched by a single guard.
Shortly after his conviction, Shaik spent more than 80 days in St Augustine’s Hospital after being diagnosed as suffering from hypertension and depression.
His stay there was cut short by Correctional Services Minister Ngconde Balfour amid political pressure from opposition parties and prisoner-rights organisations.
About three months later, Shaik was admitted to the cardiac unit in Albert Luthuli Hospital after examination in the out-patients’ department.
Provincial health spokesperson Leon Mbangwa said the right to confidentiality prevented him from commenting on Shaik’s condition.
”How much it costs the department to keep him in hospital depends on his ailment and treatment,” Mbangwa said. — Sapa