Zulu taking it easy in jail hospital
Sifiso Zulu may be running out of legal options, but he’s being treated royally in jail, write Matthew Savides and Masood Boomgaard
SIFISO Zulu was showering when a Tribune reporter turned up to see him in the high care ward of Westville Prison’s hospital. When he finally emerged sporting a new haircut and orange prison overalls, looking tired, he was fairly pleased to see a journalist he knew.
“Are you here in your personal or professional capacity?” he asked. When the journalist replied a bit of both, he responded: “We should stop this now. “
The Tribune was able to establish he had access to a number of amenities, including his own television set, was able to roam freely through the ward and is receiving a stream of visitors, mainly young men.
This is a different scenario from Friday, when he was in leg irons, escorted by five armed prison warders out of the Pietermaritzburg High Court to a Correctional Services vehicle. Minutes earlier, his latest bid for freedom was denied.
Zulu appeared emotionless in the public gallery as Judge Pete Koen rejected his application for leave to appeal against his conviction and sentence for culpable homicide and driving under the influence.
Zulu must now start serving his three-year sentence.
Shortly after 8am on Friday, Zulu was brought into court E and chatted casually to his lawyers, Lonwabo Dandala and advocate Thabani Mosuku.
Arguing in front of Judge Koen and Acting Judge Themba Mjoli, Mosuku, while acknowledging Zulu owned the vehicle, maintained he was not the driver of the BMW X5 that killed Nonjabulo Ncube and Hlengiwe Yvonne Dlamini in the 2008 accident.
But the judges said there was no concrete evidence to prove someone else was behind the wheel when the vehicle jumped a red robot and crashed into a bakkie, killing the two members of the Souls Harbour Church and injuring eight others. Since Zulu could not categorically prove he was not the driver, it was fair to presume he was.
Mosuku maintained that another court might see things differently, but Judge Koen said the case was weak and described the evidence against Zulu as overwhelming.
After a brief adjournment – during which Zulu remained in the gallery – the judge denied his leave to appeal.
Soon afterward, Mosuku pleaded with the court to grant his client bail, saying he intended to petition the supreme court to hear the appeal despite Judge Koen’s ruling.
This was effectively Zulu’s last chance to escape time behind bars in Durban’s Westville Prison, but still he showed no emotion.
However, Judge Koen said Zulu’s chances of success with the petition had to be considered in determining whether he would get bail.
The judge also said he was “perturbed” by the events of last week, where Zulu first denied knowing his appeal had failed, then handed himself over to prison authorities more than two days after the cut-off date. “Does this not display a nonchalant attitude towards justice?” Judge Koen asked rhetorically.
There were also concerns that Zulu might abscond, with the judge saying the fewer legal options a person had available, the greater the temptation do do this.
Mosuku suggested that Zulu take the stand to explain what had happened last week, but Judge Koen rejected this, saying, “Why do we always have to fill in the gaps in this case?”
Giving his judgment, the judge said, “We are of the considered view that the case has such little prospect of success and is so devoid of merit that it does not form any basis to release the appellant (Zulu) on bail. In these circumstances, the application to be released on bail, pending the petition to the Supreme Court of Appeals, is refused.”
Minutes later, Zulu emerged from the court and was whisked away in a waiting vehicle.
Speaking outside the court, Dandala said it would now have to be decided whether to petition the supreme court. They have 21 days to decide.
Visitors to the high-care wing of Westville Prison hospital told the Tribune Zulu appeared to be adjusting to prison life and was being well taken care of by prison staff.
One visitor said that while the businessman was “unwell”, he was receiving medication daily for a stress-related condition.
The former high-flying socialite is arguably the prison’s most famous inmate since Schabir Shaik’s release on medical grounds. Guards often mention him in conversation and many people who travel on the prison bus are aware he is there. “Everyone wants to know which block Sifiso is in,” said one guard.
While some might be content that Zulu is behind bars, even in the “soft”environment of the prison hospital, family of the dead women, and other members of the Souls Harbour Ministry who were seriously injured in the accident, remain angry. “There is nothing wrong with the man. Even the prison officials say so,” alleged Dudu Ngema, who now relies on crutches because of injuries she sustained in the crash.
“The breach of regulations should not be allowed to continue. He is enjoying a holiday at taxpayers’ expense. Zulu feels nothing. He lost his conscience a long time ago.”
Additional reporting by Vivian Attwood