SHAIK SURVIVES FIRST NIGHT AT HOME, BUT TERMINAL CONDITION WORSENS
DURBAN. Convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik has reportedly survived his first night back in his luxury Durban mansion after serving 84 days of his 15-year prison sentence. Shaik's doctors have confirmed that he is in the final stages of a terminal condition called "life", and that the condition is irreversible. "We can only pray he makes it through the next 30 years," said one.
Shaik's medical parole ended the former businessman's harrowing prison ordeal, during which he spent 220 out of 304 days in a private hospital.
However Shaik's personal physician and longtime friend, Dr Kildare Scott-Free, told journalists this morning that Shaik's prognosis was "very grim". "Prisoners only get medical parole if they are in the final stages of a terminal condition," said Scott-Free.
"In Schabir's case, the ANC-approved parole board found that the condition in question was an awful and debilitating disease that we in the medical fraternity call 'life'.” He said that "life" had a zero-percent survival rate. "Sufferers usually die within about 80 years of contracting the condition," he explained.
He confirmed that Shaik had survived his first night back at home, but that the condition had worsened slightly. "Each day that goes past the sufferer loses about 24 hours," explained Scott-Free. "Last night it was touch and go," he said. "At one point he couldn't find the remote for the plasma screen and his blood pressure shot up. We managed to calm him down by showing him his latest bank statement."
Shaik recently received R5-million from the state as compensation for interest lost when his assets were seized following his convictions. However Scott-Free said that last night's emergency was a grim sign of things to come.
"We can't always be there to give him the remote and remind him how rich he is," he said. "The outlook isn't good. I'm not sure Schabir will make it through the next 30 years. This really is the end."
Meanwhile the ANC has denied that it fast-tracked Shaik's parole because Jacob Zuma was running short of cash and needed "a little pick-me-up until payday".
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