Durban - Convicted murderer and socialite Rajiv Narandas has created a buzz once again, this time because he allegedly got into a fight with an inmate at Westville Prison.
National correctional services spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo confirmed on Tuesday that an incident involving Narandas had taken place, but could not confirm when.
Nxumalo said Narandas was taken to hospital for a check-up and was later taken to the cells.
“We don’t compromise on the safety of inmates and their fundamental rights, so our medical practitioners check them and recommend if they must be taken to an outside hospital,” said Nxumalo.
He said an internal investigation was taking place.
Contacted for comment, Narandas’s mother, Rosanne, asked to be emailed questions and said: “I will answer them in my time.”
She had not responded to The Mercury at the time of publication.
Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Thulani Zwane said no reports of assault had been received from the prison since Sunday.
Rajiv Narandas began serving his 15-year jail term in May.
However, before handing himself to the relevant authorities, there was widespread media speculation on his whereabouts after he had failed to report to prison.
He was required to report to prison after the dismissal of his Constitutional Court application to appeal against his conviction and sentence for stabbing Veenand Singh to death outside a Johannesburg nightclub in 2008.
Narandas only began serving his sentence a week after he was meant to report for prison.
Reports at the time said the reasons for the delay were unclear and that the National Prosecuting Authority, the Department of Correctional Services and police had shifted responsibility for Narandas between them.
As concerns grew that he might have fled, his mother posted puzzling WhatsApp statuses and profile pictures.
One of the first read: “Don’t cry for me... I’m in Argentina,” and appeared alongside a profile picture of a Sunday Tribune poster that said: “Where is Rajiv?”
She later changed her profile picture to one of her posing with a Mercury poster.
Later, she changed her profile picture yet again.
It was the same photograph, but a wider angle revealed a grinning Narandas standing beside his mother.
It turned out that he was - for some of the time at least - at home and was spotted driving in and out of a Westville property.
The Mercury