How much more evidence is needed before the government takes action against Shaik?
The supposedly "gravely ill" Shaik looked healthy in photographs of him carrying bread and magazines, and getting into his BMW X6, which were published in City Press yesterday.
Shaik was quoted as saying he suffered from uncontrollable stress, but "being home, just seeing the greenery, feeling the sun, getting fresh air, having good food, that alone allows recuperation. That helps me reduce my stress and, to some extent, my recovery."
Shaik was further quoted as saying he was spending a fortune on glasses, because the retina of one of his eyes had been damaged as a result of high blood pressure.
"I'm on goji berries now. Someone told me that with them I'll make a miraculous recovery ... hoping my eyesight will improve, but it isn't."
The paper reported that Shaik had aggressively asked the photographer why he didn't rather apply his "creative skills" to finding out why he was not getting a pardon, "because the longer I stay as a prisoner, other people are equally guilty".
"Why should I even be asking for a pardon? If three people were part of a so-called plot to elicit funds from the French, why are the French free, why is the president free and why is Shaik still sitting as a convict. Cmon!" he is quoted as saying.
Shaik was also spotted in October playing golf. While he denied it, golfers insisted they had seen him.
DA correctional services spokesman James Selfe said yesterday Shaik's release on medical parole should be re-evaluated as he was making a mockery of the system.
"His release on medical parole now needs to be reviewed. How much more proof does the minister need before deciding to act against the convicted fraudster?
"The larger problem is, of course, that the lack of action by the department following these reports further undermines the criminal justice system in the eyes of South Africans, who perceive that there is one law for the politically connected and another for ordinary citizens," he said.
Selfe added there was absolutely no doubt that Shaik was released for political reasons and not on medical grounds.
IFP correctional services spokesman Albert Mncwango said that because of Shaik, the credibility of the country's parole system was in tatters and being used for political expediencies.
"People will not stop complaining about Shaik because he was released on the basis that he was dying. But it has been proved beyond reasonable doubt that his state of health is not what it was said to be at the time.
"Correctional Services needs to explain to the public what has changed since his release, or people will believe it was politically motivated," he said.
Shaik was convicted on two counts of corruption and one of fraud in 2005. He served only two years and four months of his 15-year sentence, spending most of the time in hospital because of high blood pressure, depression and chest pains.
After Shaik's release, his brother Yunis was reported as saying Shaik was "gravely ill", his kidneys and brain had been badly affected and he had lost 50 percent of his sight.
Yunis yesterday said there had been no change in Shaik's medical condition.
"His parole allows him to leave his home, and each time he does, he is tormented. It is not a reportable event to go to a pharmacy to acquire medicine or to a shop to purchase bread," he said.
Correctional services spokesman Manelisi Wolela said: "No evidence had been provided before about Shaik and these are new allegations that have come about regarding Shaik's violation of parole. We have asked for a report from our regional office and will comment after we have studied it."
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