Schabir Shaik's release on medical parole has sent me into a bit of a panic. My mother suffers from hypertension; I have a friend who struggles with depression; and I occasionally get chest pains. Are we all about to die?
I'd hate to trivialise a dying man's suffering, but that is all we, the public, have been told about Shaik's condition. High blood pressure is a controllable chronic disorder; depression is a treatable mood disorder; and chest pains could be an indication of a heart problem, but they could just as easily be an indication of indigestion.
I'm willing to bet a month's salary (admittedly not very much) that if you subjected all the inmates at C-Max or Pollsmoor to a medical examination, you would find that the majority of them suffer from hypertension, depression and the occasional chest pain. They are, after all, incarcerated under unpleasant conditions.
You would probably also find a fairly high number of individuals who were HIV positive. Some would even be close to death. If the stats given out by the SA Prisoners Organisation for Human Rights are anything to go by, approximately 2500 inmates died in South African prisons last year. Only 25 people have been granted medical parole since April 2008. So, how did a guy with high blood pressure, depression and chest pains crack the list?
That, for the record, was a rhetorical question.
The Correctional Services Act is pretty clear about who qualifies for medical parole: you need to be in the "final phase of any terminal disease or condition". And the purpose of the parole is not so that you can convalesce from the comfort of your luxury home, but rather so that you can "die a consolatory and dignified death".
If Schabir Shaik dies within the next three months, I will unreservedly apologise for callously questioning his integrity and that of those responsible for his release. I will admit that serving only two years and fours months of a 15-year sentence is acceptable when you only have two years and seven months to live.
However, if he doesn't die, those responsible for his early release should be held accountable. The three medical practitioners who provided the medical expertise on Shaik's terminal condition should be hauled before the medical council and, if found guilty of malpractice, should be stripped of their medical licences. They should also face a court of law for providing false testimony which led to the illegal release of a convicted criminal.
The members of the Parole Board who sanctioned the parole should be investigated and, if found to have benefited in any way from the decision, should face legal action. Finally, if anyone (no names mentioned) has tried to influence the duration of Shaik's stay in prison, they too should be dragged before a court of law.
Schabir Shaik is entitled to confidentiality regarding the nature of his illness, but the public is also entitled to a reasonable explanation for his early release.
Without it, it is impossible to shake the impression that this is a travesty of justice.
Without it, the people of South Africa will lose any faith they may have had in the justice system.
Without it, the doctors, the parole board, the Shaiks and the ANC look guilty as hell.
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