BALDWIN NDABA and CANDICE BAILEY
D ISGRACED former police chief Jackie Selebi was due today to make one last attempt to extend his freedom.
As Selebi lies in Pretoria’s Jakaranda Hospital recovering from a suspected stroke, his legal team are expected to ask the chief registrar at the Johannesburg High Court to postpone the date on which Selebi is to report to prison, because he is ill.
Selebi’s lawyer, Wynanda Coetzee, said yesterday: “We are not sure when he will be discharged, as his specialist will only be back on Monday.”
However, they had managed to make arrangements late on Saturday night, and it was confirmed yesterday that Selebi would not report to the registrar today.
On Friday, the appeal court ruled that the Johannesburg High Court had been correct in finding Selebi had received payments from convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti.
He was given 48 hours to report to Correctional Services.
But Selebi, 61, collapsed at his home and was rushed to hospital, where he is under guard.
A source close to the family, who did not want to be named, said the left side of Selebi’s body was numb.
“He even struggled to understand what I was saying when I spoke to him.
He has been seriously ill for a long time,” the source said.
The appeal court ruled that the Johannesburg High Court’s decision to jail Selebi for corruption had been correct and the 15-year sentence was appropriate.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga told The Star yesterday that Selebi’s lawyers had approached prosecutors on Saturday, informing them of their plans.
“But we told them to approach the registrar as prosecutors are not involved in this matter at this stage,” he said.
The representations to the registrar would centre on the prosecuting authority giving a later date on Selebi’s letter of detention.
The letter should accompany Selebi when he starts his prison term. Without this letter, the former Interpol boss is not able to check into any facility and start his sentence.
The Star understands that a decision can be taken by the chief registrar within hours of the representation – but it would depend on the reasons given for Selebi’s inability to comply.
A legal expert, who cannot be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, said if they had wanted, Selebi’s lawyers could have made an urgent application at the weekend to get the delay under way.
But the judges’s secretary dealing with urgent applications told The Star yesterday that, to date, there had been no application.
The source close to the family said Selebi’s lawyers had gone to a correctional centre in Pretoria North to explain his condition, but were not helped. They were to go to the same facility today before taking legal steps.
Yesterday, Correctional Services national commissioner Tom Moyane said that his department was ready to accommodate Selebi in any one of its 243 correctional facilities.
“We understand he is sick, but if his health improves, we would be ready to accommodate him,” Moyane said.
He denied that Selebi would be held at the Johannesburg Prison, commonly known as Sun City. “Mr Selebi can be accommodated at any of our facilities. It can be in Boksburg, Pretoria or Modderbee in Benoni. We will act if and when he presents himself,” Moyane said.
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