Death of terminally ill inmate highlights inconsistent use of medical parole

The Democratic Alliance (DA) received correspondence this morning from the Judicial Inspectorate for Correctional Services regarding the death of a terminally ill inmate Andries Johannes Pretorius. The DA believes this matter needs to be investigated.  I will be asking Parliamentary Questions about why this man was not released on medical parole and why he was not afforded the appropriate care required of a dying man with broken bones.

Mr Pretorius was serving a ten year sentence for attempted murder. He was moved from Rooigrond Medium A Correctional Centre to the Leeuwkop Maximum Correctional Centre on 27 November 2008 reportedly to ensure his proximity to the Johannesburg General Hospital for the purposes of receiving medical care. He was taken to see doctors on various occasions but was not given any treatment.

A DCS medical report confirmed on the 29 January 2009 that the inmate was suffering from lung cancer and was in the final stages of the disease with an estimated two months left to live. The correspondence from the Judicial Inspectorate indicates that the inmate had been recommended for medical parole, which had not been followed and was only communicated to his family a few hours before his death on 9 February 2009. Further to this, it appears that he did not receive the necessary care required for his illness nor was he treated for the broken bones he sustained from a fall a few days prior to his death. 

In contrast to this, Schabir Shaik has controversially been on medical parole for almost four months and as yet there has been no attempt to review the validity of this parole decision. Despite various attempts by the DA to urge former and present Ministers of Correctional Services to refer the matter to the Parole Review Board, nothing has been done.

The DA is most concerned that inmates who qualify for medical parole are not being treated in an equal fashion. There is a need for an investigation into which inmates have been released on medical parole and which have been refused, in order to establish whether there is equality of treatment for all qualifying inmates.

Statement issued by James Selfe MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of correctional services, June 17 2009

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