Convicted fraudster Schabir Shaik, who has been released from jail, would have to be "in the final stages of a terminal illness" to qualify for medical parole, a Correctional Services official said on Tuesday.

Shaik, the former financial adviser of ANC leader Jacob Zuma, was released on medical parole on Monday, the department confirmed on Tuesday morning.

Spokesman Manelisi Wolela told SABC radio that the Correctional Services Act was "very clear" on medical parole rules.

"The act is very clear. It talks about people who are in the final stages their terminal illness -- but that determination is not done by the officials of the department, that is done by medical doctors that
submit their reports to the parole board which then makes a decision," said Wolela.

Shaik has served two years and four months of his 15-year term, spending most of that time in hospital due to high blood pressure, depression and chest pains.

Asked whether Shaik was in the final stages of a terminal illness, Wolela replied: "In terms of the act, as now pronounced or determined by medical practitioners."

"In terms of the act, there should always be checks and balances... to ensure proper procedure was followed and there's absolute fairness in the manner in which things are being done," he added.

In the past two years, about 130 prisoners had been released on
medical parole.

The department confirmed Shaik's release in a statement on Tuesday morning.

"We have... been informed that the Correctional Supervision and Parole Board of the Durban Westville Management Area has decided to grant a 'medical parole' to offender Schabir Shaik following his
re-appearance on Monday 02 March 2009," Wolela said.

"It should be noted that in terms of Section 75 (8) of the Correctional Services Act (Act 111 of 1998) the 'decision of the board is final' and can only be reviewed by the 'Correctional Supervision and
Parole Review Board' led by a Judge.

"The department has requested a written report from the parole board to study and see if procedures have been followed appropriately in arriving at the decision."

Shaik was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2005 on two counts of corruption and one of fraud, which, among other things, related to an alleged bribe he negotiated between Zuma and a French arms company.

Zuma, the African National Congress' presidential candidate in upcoming elections, said at the weekend that, given Shaik's health, he should have been released long ago.