Is Selebi’s medical parole a promising precedent?

THE medical parole of Jackie Selebi has caused a huge public outcry. He had served just two months of his 15-year sentence for corruption involving his relationship with drug lord Glenn Agliotti, when the new Medical Parole Advisory Board agreed to his release on health grounds. Selebi suffers from renal failure and is allegedly in the final stage of his illness. He also has diabetes and possibly cancer.

The popular indignation grew when he allegedly received preferential treatment for dialysis, followed by reports that he didn’t show up for kidney treatment, despite claims that he needed dialysis every 48 hours.

Journalist Stephen Grootes voiced popular concern in Business Day: “Selebi is taking advantage of changes in law around medical parole.” And: “This has led to claims that those with political backgrounds are treated more favourably.”

It remains to be seen, however, if Selebi’s release was brought about by cronyism. It might also be the result of the newly improved Correctional Services Act, which has instituted an independent Medical Parole Advisory Board of 11 medical practitioners, to assess the applications of seriously ill inmates.

What is blatantly clear, though, is that Selebi and other well-known inmates trigger much more media hype than most severely ill prisoners whose applications for medical parole are refused. Their plight goes unnoticed.

Take Bobby Leping, for example. He contracted tuberculosis (TB) while incarcerated in Pretoria Central Prison in 2009. Over time, his health deteriorated dramatically and there was not much hope left. His application for medical parole was refused late last year. When he was acquitted, he was immediately admitted to hospital, where he died early this year.

Dudlee Lee, an inmate who contracted TB in Cape Town’s Pollsmoor Prison and survived, will challenge the government before the Constitutional Court on August 28. He alleges the state was negligent in tackling the spread of TB in prison, which violated his constitutional rights. The Wits Justice Project will be taking part in the case as a friend of the court.

The spread of TB like wildfire through our prisons is a very serious public health issue, caused by overcrowding, poor ventilation and substandard sanitary facilities. TB is the main cause of death in South African prisons, according to the former inspecting judge for correctional services, Deon van Zyl, in his 2010-11 report. For example, 18 of the 83 natural deaths in Johannesburg’s prison were caused by TB. These deaths were unnecessary because the pulmonary illness should be manageable. If prisoners do die of TB, they should be allowed to do so with dignity in their own homes.

Imminent death, however, is no longer the only ground for release on medical parole. The new Correctional Matters Amendment Act also allows medical parole “if an offender is rendered physically incapacitated as a result of injury, disease or illness so as to severely limit daily activity or inmate self-care”.

Previously, applications for medical parole were assessed by a board that dealt with all parole issues. This system came under attack after Schabir Shaik, the convicted fraud and former adviser to President Jacob Zuma, was released because he was deemed to be terminally ill. He recovered and was spotted playing golf in Durban a few months later. The Department of Correctional Services acknowledged medical parole procedures were “inconsistently implemented”.

The new board is independent; the doctors on the board advise the national commissioner and the minister of correctional services on the parole application solely on medical grounds, thus in theory preventing any politically motivated decisions.

If the newly introduced system of medical parole functions properly, it should lead to a slew of approved medical parolees with TB.

The government has not really tackled or controlled the spread of TB in prisons and, as a result, inmates are suffering and dying unnecessarily of the disease.

The government must deal with TB by improving conditions in prisons but, until then, inmates dying of TB should be allowed to die peacefully in their homes, instead of in prison. Time will tell if the new system will be equally benign to highprofile prisoners such as Selebi as it is to terminally ill inmates who lack a platform to voice their concerns.

Hopkins works as a journalist for the Wits Justice Project, which investigates miscarriages of justice.