By Ainsley Daniels
Convicted fraudster and for financial adviser to President Jacob Zuma, Schabir Shaik was released from prison earlier this year on medical grounds.
It has now emerged that Shaik is applying for a presidential pardon to have his fraud conviction expunged from the record books.
IOL asked its readers: Should Schabir Shaik be pardoned?
Of the 1 457 people who participated in the 84 percent (1 229 votes) said "No" and 16 percent (228 votes) said "Yes"
Here are some of the comments posted online:
Leo: Fed up with stupidity - How can anybody that understands right from wrong and know what breaking the law means vote yes here? .. Are you willing to set an example to all those wannabe and in practice criminals that power, political affiliation and money can buy you a get out of jail free card !!!. goodness WAKE UP and get REAL!!!
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Anonymous: Heaven does it mean I as a "nobody" with no political clout can also be exonerated of my crime as his or should I say would the courts allow me to ask for a pardon? therefore I say he is just like all citizens of SA, should pay for his crimes.
Craig: IT send a message to the vast majority of the public that it is acceptable to commit fraud at the highest level. If President Zuma is serious about stamping out corruption he should insist that Shaik is return to prison to serve out his intended sentence, and that no matter how connected he is he is not above the Law. failing this South Africa is becoming the new banana republic.
Muzi: We forgave the apartheid regime...that killed, murdered a whole lot of us black folks, do we want to start now by not practising the culture of forgiving?
Alan: Found guilty by a Judge, why should he be pardoned? I did something really stupid more than 20 years ago and through ignorance and lack of funds for an Attorney was found guilty. My record stands. I have applied twice to have the conviction pardoned to the DoJ, without success. Mine involved something really minor but it was a crime anyway, and I sit with it to this day. It has gotten in my way through my career with job applications, but I've been upfront and honest about it from the start of an Application, and generally it has gone well. Why should he be treated differently? He did what he did.
FRANK HARTRY: NEVER. President Zuma is in a very precarious and embarrassing position because if he pardon's Shaik, he is in fact forgiving his own previous financial adviser for crimes in which, at Shaik's trial and beyond, Zuma himself is alleged to have been involved. It would appear that Shaik applied for the pardon when still in prison- or more like hospital,- when Motlanthe was at the helm and suspiciously doing Zuma,s bidding. There is no doubt in my opinion, that the South African public has been dealt one gigantic fraud when it comes to the whole premature release of Shaik and the reasons for it. No- one will therefore be surprised if Shaik was given a pardon by someone who is after-all an admitted friend. Zuma may have to 'apply his mind' but he is known to be a man who does not forget his friends. However a pardon does not make the tag of criminal go away. Shaik will always be tagged as a convicted fraudster. One is reminded of Richard Nixon's pardon by President Ford. Until the day he died, Americans never forgot or forgave Nixon's involvement with the Watergate scandal.
Sonny: Mr Shaik is a convicted criminal. His so called "illness" was also fraudulent as any reasonable person will be able to deduce. He will get away with a clean record because of what he really knows about his wheeling and dealing to secure privileges for himself from members of the ANc who hold high office and how it really implicates the president AND perhaps other persons in high office.He still apparently has an ace up his sleeve and the powers to be are fully aware of how this will implicate them.They "owe" him one to remain silent, thus he will be pardoned to save the skin of certain people and spare them a lot of blushes, perhaps saving their their political careers.
50cents worth:I voted no, but seeing that everybody in those circles is up everyone elses backside I suppose he will get his way eventually. Which just goes to show, that we go to work to pay tax to pay for lengthy trials to eventually get off free, but wait that's not all!!!!
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