Balfour must fall on his sword over Shaik

If ever a government and a ruling party was capable of getting foot and mouth disease then the ANC and South Africa has to be it. Sometimes it gets so bad that it seems as if the only time that they open their mouths is to change feet. The Balfour-Shaik-Zuma debacle being the latest offering.

Of course one of the “benefits” of living in South Africa is that it has become like playing in a giant compendium of games. How would this be for one of the winning cards in South African Political Cluedo? — Minister Balfour with the dodgy medical parole in the Correctional Services. Then we turn that into the American quiz show Jeopardy where, if that is the answer, what was the question? It is of course “Who tried to ensure that Jacob Zuma’s charges would be dropped?” We can then start playing Monopoly with Shaik purchasing all the properties and hotels in the most expensive areas of KwaZulu-Natal.

Mind you the worst part of all this is that by trying to be anything but transparent the government’s plan of action is transparency itself. Get Shaik out of prison no matter how dodgy the basis therefore and thereafter turn to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) and ask them how they feel about their case now. On the one hand you have Balfour not only refusing the medical evidence but any chance of review and the NPA suggesting that if they drop the charges against the ANC president they are not bound to furnish us with the reason.

We’ve gone from the brilliant analytical mind of former president Thabo Mbeki and his team of “try and guess why we are taking these steps” to “hoi anyone got another elephant I’m popping out to the China-shop brigade”.

Whichever way you look at it, Balfour has participated in a scheme which has sought to circumvent the express provisions of the Correctional Services Act which provides for medical parole in respect of those who are in the final stages of a terminal illness. The minister tried to suppress the medical evidence based upon the fact that if it was someone’s brother or sister would we want that evidence released. Which according to the attorney acting on behalf of the doctors is far from the real reason:

“However, their lawyer, Altus van Rensburg, confirmed at the weekend that they had not done so because Shaik was in the last phase of a terminal condition. Their report merely indicated he could not be kept indefinitely in their hospital, and given that ‘prison authorities were reluctant to manage him at the prison hospital, where conditions are suboptimal’, he should be considered for medical parole.”(IOL)

In other words Shaik, based upon that advice, does not qualify for medical parole in terms of the act. If a reluctance to manage the illness suffered by prisoners is to be the guideline for medical parole then we might as well fling open all the doors to our prisons. Moreover if Balfour was disingenuous on that issue what of his confirmation that the doctors were universally in agreement and that there will definitely not be a review of the decision?

In other words if Van Rensburg is right, not only are we dealing with a clear breach of the act, which the minister is trying to suppress, but also his attempts to block a review on the decision.

Now comes the hard part: If Zuma has said that he won’t tolerate corrupt, lazy or dishonest politicians what does he do when the beneficiary of the actions of one of his ministers amounts to the same and he is the principle beneficiary of that conduct?

Tune in tomorrow morning for another episode of “as the stomach turns”.