Former Azanian People's Liberation Army (Apla) cadre Kenny Motsamai, who is on day parole, says his leg tagged with the offenders' tracking device is unbearably painful.

After his address at Unisa on Friday, at a discussion attended by Pan Africanist Congress of Azania (PAC) members and sympathisers, Motsamai showed his swollen leg with the device.

He said he feared the injured leg would get worse. "This thing [the device] is making me sick," he said .

"I went to a doctor for help because this thing is hurting me. The doctor is suggesting that they should relax it."

Sowetan saw the doctor's note, which recommended that the device should be adjusted.

"I'm oppressed by African people like myself. I've given them the letter, but there's no response. They are just quiet."

He is now exploring to urgently take the Correctional Services Department to court. "I want the masses to know that this tracker is not good for one's health," he said.

Motsamai can't even wait for January 11 2017, the day he is expecting his day parole to end, to have the device either removed or adjusted.

Spokesman for the department, Logan Maistry, said he was not aware of the matter. He referred Sowetan to the Gauteng spokesman, Ofentse Morwane, who could not be reached for comment.

The department granted Motsamai day parole six months ago.

He is released from Boksburg Prison each day at 8am and returns at 4pm.

Motsamai's movements are monitored. "This thing was made for terrorists, not for us freedom fighters," he said.

Aged 26, Motsamai was sent to jail in 1989 for the murder of a white traffic officer in Rustenburg during an Apla-sanctioned bank robbery.

nkosib@sowetan.co.za