Storm is brewing over 'VIP convicts'
January 21 2007 at 02:12PM
By Melanie Peters and Juggie Naran
Former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni was given special permission by the department of correctional services to leave Cape Town to buy the bull that was ritually slaughtered at his parents' home this weekend at his welcome-home-from-prison party. He could not otherwise have left the city because of his parole conditions.
And allegations that another high-profile criminal, Schabir Shaik, has also received preferential treatment are to be investigated by the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons.
The convicted fraudster has spent most of the past two months not behind bars but in the comfort of a private hospital in Durban.
Yengeni drove to a farm near Porterville, more than 150km from Cape Town, to choose a sacrificial bull on Tuesday, the day after he was released. He spent only four months in prison after being sentenced to four years for lying to parliament about a discount he was given on a 4X4 luxury vehicle by one of the companies bidding for a slice of the government's multibillion-rand arms deal.
Luphumzo Kebeni, the Western Cape correctional services spokesperson, said Yengeni had been given permission for the trip and was accompanied by a senior prisons official.
Yengeni's brief stay in prison was marked by accusations that he received special treatment. Lance Greyling, the Independent Democrats' chief whip, said he would ask in parliament about the conditions of Yengeni's parole.
"The impression is being created that certain politicians are above the law and receive special treatment. We can't allow our criminal justice system to be made a mockery of."
Yengeni's bull, and two sheep, were slaughtered on Friday afternoon as part of a post-prison "cleansing" ceremony.
Many of Yengeni's friends, relatives and political comrades gathered at his parents' home to welcome him home from prison.
Shaik has spent 58 days at St Augustine's Hospital under 24-hour guard after about two weeks in the hospital section of Qalakabusha Prison in Empangeni. He is said to be suffering from depression and high blood pressure.
He has reportedly had a mild stroke and has undergone surgery on his gums.
Judge Nathan Erasmus, the head of the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons, told The Sunday Independent that Shaik's medical condition and his lengthy stay in hospital were being investigated. He said investigators would examine his latest medical reports.
"We are gathering all the new claims published in the media in the past week, and the latest medical reports about Shaik and his continued stay and medical condition in the hospital.
"Once the report has been given to me, by next week, I will be able to arrive at an objective and informed opinion about whether he is receiving preferential treatment.
"If necessary... I will personally visit Shaik in hospital."
Golden Miles Bhudu, the chief executive of the South African Prisoners' Organisation for Human Rights, hit out at Shaik's lengthy hospital stay. "It's about time Shaik realised that he has a new career. He has been sentenced to serve a 15-year sentence and he must now start paying his dues to the community.
"He must forget his past life of luxury and get on with his new career - serving his sentence.
"There are prisoners dying like flies in prison of illnesses associated with HIV/Aids and here is a man living in the lap of luxury in a private hospital. It makes a mockery of the justice system."
Mo Shaik, the family spokesperson, said the family was "sick and tired of the media's persistent paparazzi-style reports" about his brother's medical condition.
o This article was originally published on page 1 of Sunday Independent on January 21, 2007
