DA considers judicial review of Shaik parole after disappointing SAHPC decision
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is disappointed by the decision of the South African Health Professions Council (SAHPC) today not to undertake further investigations into the conduct of the doctors who recommended that convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik be given medical parole.
From everything that we know, including the briefing given to the Portfolio Committee on Correctional Services last August, it may very well be that Mr Shaik is ill. Indeed, he could be seriously ill. However, the Correctional Services Act is very clear about the circumstances under which inmates can be released on medical parole. Section 79 of the Act determines that to qualify, an inmate must be "in the final phase of any terminal disease or condition". Thus, in order to qualify for parole, one or more medical practitioners must certify that the inmate is indeed "in the final phase of any terminal disease or condition".
It is clear that Mr Shaik does not fall within this category, and the only conclusion that reasonable people can draw is that the doctors' recommendations were inaccurate and/or that the Parole Board did not follow the recommendation of the doctors.
We remain convinced that the decision of the Parole Board to grant Mr Shaik medical parole was illegal. It was also clearly politically motivated, as is so transparently demonstrated by the Minister's refusal to refer this matter to the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board, as we requested. Even the President undertook to ask the Minister to refer the matter to the Review Board. The Minister has not done so, and has not answered my correspondence in this regard.
Under the circumstances, we will be consulting our lawyers to advise us how best to bring a review application in the High Court. This is such an egregious case of abuse of power that it invites judicial scrutiny.
Statement issued by James Selfe, Democratic Alliance correctional services spokesperson, April 20 2009
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