Shaik does a round of golf

Published Oct 22, 2009

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By Bronwyn Gerretsen

Convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik played a round of golf at the Papwa Sewgolum Course in Reservoir Hills, Durban, yesterday.

Shaik, who has applied for a presidential pardon, was seen by several golfers from about 2pm. Many said he had played there often since being released from prison on medical parole.

The former financial adviser to President Jacob Zuma drove to the golf course in a black BMW X6, which is registered in his name.

According to other golfers, Shaik's playing partner, a man described as normally calm, looked anxious yesterday and was overheard asking another golfer whether the course was quiet.

On hearing that it was, they entered the club.

Shaik was described as wearing white plus-fours, white golf shoes and a "pinkish" shirt.

One man who saw Shaik said: "He walked right in front of me."

Shaik apparently learnt that The Mercury was looking for him and left through a side exit.

Another man, believed to be his bodyguard, drove the BMW out of the parking lot and apparently picked him up at a nearby shopping centre.

"You've just missed him. He heard you guys were here and left from that side," said one golfer, pointing towards the road. "I think he went through the shopping centre and someone fetched him from there."

The man said that Shaik had been playing golf "right behind us" since 2pm, before adding: "There's nothing you can do about it - he's part of the government, nothing will happen to him."

Another said: "So what if he is playing there? He is out on parole."

Since Shaik's release from prison in March - on the grounds that he was terminally ill - he has been seen at a number of places in Durban. His family has lashed out at the media for harassing them "every time he is seen".

Yesterday, his brother Yunus Shaik slammed down the phone when asked about the golf course sighting.

In August, DA councillor Dean MacPherson said he saw Shaik leaving a residence in Stephen Dlamini (Essenwood) Road.

At the time, a Correctional Services spokesman said Shaik's parole conditions allowed him to venture out of his home during allocated times, adding that the department "cannot force one to die".

Thami Zondi was quoted as saying: "People on parole have free time on holidays and weekends. He is allowed to go to mosque on a Friday and is allowed to move around the magisterial district of Durban between 11am and 4pm on weekends and public holidays."

However, golfers told The Mercury that he played golf at the course every Wednesday.

Shaik was convicted on two counts of corruption and one of fraud in 2005. He served only two years and four months of his 15-year sentence, spending most of the time in hospital because of high blood pressure, depression and chest pains.

The Presidency confirmed on Monday that it had received an application for a pardon from Shaik on April 24 last year.

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