'Shaik grabbed me by the throat and hit me'

Schabir Shaik and his companions attacked a reporter and photographer after being spotted on the golf course

SCHABIR Shaik's alleged assault of a journalist is the last straw and his parole must now be ended, opposition parties say.

According to Durban's Sunday Tribune newspaper, Shaik grabbed journalist Amanda Khoza by the throat and hit her in the face. The Sunday Tribune yesterday displayed a photo of a shaken Khoza, who had tried to interview Shaik while he was out playing golf.

Khoza was behind a tree on the golf course, looking for Shaik when he allegedly approached her, grabbed her throat, slapped her on both cheeks and asked her if she was a "terrorist".

Shaik's companions then assaulted a freelance photographer, who was not named, and confiscated his camera.

When Khoza tried to film the incident on her cellphone, the men chased her and one of them shouted "come here you black girl, come sit here on the golf cart".

Bizarrely, Shaik allegedly felt sorry later on and wanted to hug Khoza, the newspaper reported.

MP Themba Godi of the African People's Convention said it was "pretty astounding behaviour for somebody who was supposed to go home and die.

"It is the arrogance of someone who knows he has the powers that be in his pocket. We condemn this in the strongest terms. Shaik is proving that jail is where he belongs."

 The DA's James Selfe said yesterday that parole was granted to criminals on condition that they lead "an exemplary life and do not commit further crimes". Parolees who do commit crimes should be returned to jail, said Selfe.

UDM general secretary Bongani Msomi said Shaik was "seemingly more equal than others" because he had been given special treatment by the government from the time he was first sentenced to jail.

Shaik has been spotted out and about since he was released from prison. But Prisons Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula has maintained that it was legitimate for her department to release the "terminally ill" Shaik on medical parole, because nobody could say exactly when a terminally ill prisoner would die.

Prisons spokesperson Manelisi Wolela did not answer his cellphone yesterday. But he told the Sunday Tribune that he would only comment on a police report and not on a media report.