Fraud convict Schabir Shaik has been sent back to Durban’s Westville prison, the Correctional Services department said on Tuesday.
Spokesperson Manelisi Wolela declined to give any details over the phone, saying that a statement would be released by the department shortly.
It is believed that Shaik was returned to the prison on Monday night.
He was referred to the Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital in Durban over a month ago, after he spent two months at a prison infirmary, and 83 days at St Augustine’s hospital.
While at Qalakabusha prison at Empangeni, Shaik was treated for hypertension and other blood-pressure related conditions.
The inspecting judge of prisons, Judge Nathan Erasmus, said that prior to any reports about Shaik’s hospital treatment appearing in the media, he had personally sent an investigator to probe rumours about Shaik’s treatment.
”We were obviously concerned about claims that Mr Shaik might be receiving preferential treatment, and felt they should be investigated.
”We therefore conducted an inspection at both the Westville prison and the hospital itself.
”We checked the prison and medical records to confirm why Mr Shaik had been sent to hospital,” he said, adding that he had contacted Shaik’s own physician, Dr Somalingum Ponnusamy, for confirmation about his condition.
Ponnusamy’s opinion was that Shaik’s condition warranted hospital treatment.
Erasmus said that while Shaik was being held in a single ward, it was ”equipped only with the bare essentials”, and he was under constant guard.
Shaik received no more visitors than regulations allowed, and his meals were prescribed by his doctor.
Shaik was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for fraud relating to his relationship to former deputy president Jacob Zuma. – Sapa