The Democratic Alliance (DA) on Tuesday again urged Correctional Services Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula to review convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik's medical parole.

DA spokesperson James Selfe said this was in view of the Correctional Services Department's "reluctance to answer any further questions" on Shaik's medical parole.

In a letter to Mapisa-Nqakula, Selfe said her spokesperson Sonwaba Mbananga, was quoted in the media at the weekend as saying that the department would no longer answer questions on this matter, stating, "there has been enough communication regarding the Shaik issue. We have other work to do. The department is done communicating about this".

Selfe said this was a most unhelpful attitude.

The public was still in the dark about whether this matter would be reviewed and these issues most certainly had not been communicated. There were two main reasons why Shaik's parole should be reviewed by the Correctional Supervision and Parole Review Board.

Firstly, it was in the best interest of the public, given the number of reported irregularities that had emerged regarding Shaik's release, and secondly, because it effected the credibility of the parole system as a whole.

"The only way that this matter can be put to rest is for it to be reviewed.

"If there is nothing untoward about Mr Shaik's parole, then the minister has nothing to lose and everything to gain by sending it for review," Selfe said.