Durban -
Durban businessman and socialite Sifiso Zulu has been encouraged to look for a job, but must notify his parole officer if he moves home.
The parole officer will visit him, and he is prohibited from drinking and from taking drugs, unless they are prescribed by a doctor.
These are some of the parole conditions Zulu has to abide by after serving nine months of his three-year prison sentence.
He was sentenced in 2010 for killing two students and injuring 10 others, including Dudu Ngema, a young woman who was left disabled, when his car rammed into their bakkie. He was drunk and ran a red light.
He was released early on Monday
from the Sevontein Prison in Pietermaritzburg, apparently to give the media the slip, although this was denied by authorities.
Provincial correctional services spokeswoman Nokuthula Zikhali said the conditions applied to everyone freed on parole.
Zulu also had to:
* Attend programmes that addressed his offending behaviour.
* Continue trying to make peace with his victims and their families.
On Monday, The Mercury visited Zulu’s flat on the beachfront, and his restaurant and his mother’s home in Westville, but he was not to be found and his relatives declined to comment.
A neighbour, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the family was “in high spirits”.
“You could see the excitement in their faces. They were cleaning the yard,” the man said.
“He hardly comes to visit them, but his brother was happy about the release. He kept telling people, including me, that his brother was coming home.”
The man said Zulu’s family were preparing a “special” meal for him.
Tex Collins, the DA caucus leader in the eThekwini council, slammed the parole granted to Zulu, saying he had been freed because he was connected to the ANC.
“If it was you or me, we would have no chance.”
The IFP’s Velaphi Ndlovu questioned why Zulu had been freed at a time of day when the public was asleep.
“He was supposed to be released in the day where the public can see him. I am amazed. This man killed two people and injured others.”
The Mercury