Pretoria - Oscar Pistorius is safe in jail. That’s the word from 26 gang leader Shalil Subjee.
In fact, Subjee says, he does not care about the Paralympian because he did not kill a black person.
Pistorius was sentenced to five years in jail last week for murdering his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
During pre-sentencing proceedings his defence argued that he not be given a prison term because Subjee had threatened to stab him.
The claims angered Subjee.
“How can Barry (Roux) make those statements without talking to me? If I wanted Oscar to be hurt, I would not do it myself. I would put out an order and one of my foot soldiers would attack him,” Subjee said.
He said he had also been angered by comments by ex-cons Kenny Kunene and Gayton Mckenzie who said they would be able to protect Pistorius in prison.
“Who do Gayton and Kenny think they are? How are they going to protect him?”
Subjee, 47, says he is “The General” of the 26s gang and controls all the inland prisons. He said Pistorius was not on their radar because he did not kill a black person.
“The Waterkloof Four for instance, killed a homeless black man and when they are released they are treated like Michael Jackson. You cannot kill a black person and still be disrespectful in prison.”
Subjee claimed he saved the life of one of the Waterkloof Four, Christoff Becker.
“He slapped one of my foot soldiers who he accused of stealing his money. Two other foot soldiers followed him around, wanting to take revenge. I stood between him and them when they wanted to stab him. He asked me not to let them stab him. For that, he claims, Becker gave the foot soldiers money and Subjee a cellphone and just over R100 as payment.
Becker and his co-accused Frikkie du Preez were jailed at Kgosi Mampuru before their parole was revoked earlier this year after a video of them partying in prison emerged.
Earlier this year, Subjee, who is serving an 18-year sentence for rape handed down in 2008, was moved from Kgosi Mampuru II prison to Kokstad prison after he stabbed Clive Derby-Lewis and Janus Walusz, who are in jail for the murder of former SACP general secretary Chris Hani.
Subjee said he stabbed the pair after Derby-Lewis called Nelson Mandela a monkey.
“Stabbing Derby-Lewis was not gang-related. It was political. He can’t call Mandela a monkey. I am an ANC member and Mandela is my hero.”
Subjee received 18 more months for the attack.
After a stint at Kokstad, Subjee was moved to Zonderwater Prison in Cullinan, where Pretoria News interviewed him last weekend.
He has been in the prison for just over two months so he is not allowed contact visits.
The interview was conducted over a speaker in a cubicle with Subjee seating across the glass for the allocated 45 minutes visiting time.
He is only allowed two visits a month and cannot have more than two visitors at a time.
He will be allowed contact visits after six months at the facility.
There, he claims, he has a new set of problems with Boeremag leader Tom Vorster trying to gain favours from prison officials using his name.
“One of the Boeremag guys Tom Vorster is here and trying to cause me trouble.
“He told prison authorities that I had put an order out that he be stabbed. I did not even know he was here. The authorities called me and I told them there was no such thing.
“People just think they can use my name to gain favours. I have a past and he also has a past. He tried to overthrow the black government,” Subjee said.
Vorster was last year sentenced to 25 years in jail for being a member of the Boeremag’s bomb squad which blew up numerous targets in 2002.
Subjee, from Lenasia, has been in and out of prison for the last 33 years.
He said he tried to stop being part of the gang in 1995, but failed because of bullying and violence in prison.
With still more than a decade to serve, he is thinking of writing a book about his life.
The 26 gang
The 26 gang specialises in economic crimes in prison.
They are responsible for acquiring drugs, money, cigarettes and other contraband. Members of the 26 gang rarely use violence and if one does, he/she automatically becomes a member of the 27 gang.
Shalil Subjee says he is the “General” of the 26 gang.
Most of the members of this gang work as cleaners in the prison.
Subjee used to work as a cleaner at Kgosi Mampuru II prison.
According to the website www.thenumbersgang.weebly.com, inmates who have been raped or those who seek same-sex relationships are not allowed to be members of the 26 gang. The website also states that the gang does not want members who have sustained head injuries, unless if the member takes back his blood by stabbing a warder.
Pretoria News