Abathembu king Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo had to be literally pushed into his prison cell after being discharged from an East London hospital yesterday.
Dalindyebo reportedly left the Life East London Private Hospital shortly after 3pm after he had spent 40 days undergoing treatment for chronic ulcers and depression.
A source with Correctional Services said the king was clearly not happy about being returned to the East London Maximum Correctional Centre.
“They cleared all offenders from the corridors and only allowed those who were cleaning to remain behind as the king entered.
“When the king stopped walking in protest, two warders lifted him up and he was pushed to his cell – the king then said ‘let go of me’ before he sat silent in his cell,” the source said.
The source said the squabble irked those offenders who had witnessed it – who felt the king was being disrespected.
The commotion, which is likely to upset the AbaThembu nation, occurred in front of the commissioner of the Eastern Cape correctional services department Nkosinathi Breakfast and Hannes Botes, the head of the East London Maximum Centre.
The Correctional Services department yesterday refused to comment.
Spokesman Zama Feni said he was out of town and could not attend to queries regarding the king.
Dalindyebo’s spokesman Prince Mthunzi Ngonyama said the family was told of the king’s re-incarceration late yesterday afternoon.
“I visited him earlier in the morning and his condition was not stable. He was very emotional. He is not taking all this lightly,” he said.
The department remained mum on the matter, with Breakfast not taking calls from the Dispatch.
The 51-year-old monarch is being kept in a private cell in Unit 5 of the maximum security prison.
The unit has been described as a high-risk area where there is strict access control for both officials and other offenders.
The king will continue to serve his 12-year jail sentence despite growing efforts by traditional leaders and his subjects to have him freed.
President Jacob Zuma has yet to decide on the petition by the Eastern Cape chapter of the Contralesa for Dalindyebo to be given clemency.
The embattled royal was rushed to hospital on the midnight of January 17 after he allegedly refused to take regular prison meals.
On Tuesday hundreds of AbaThembu bused in from the Eastern Cape to Gauteng marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to call on Zuma to immediately release Dalindyebo .
Deputy director in the Presidency Melisizwe Bleki received the AbaThembu petition.
He said the presidential pardon application by Contralesa was still being attended to by the Justice Department.
The king started serving his sentence on December 30 last year – for assault, kidnapping, arson and defeating the ends of justice.
Dalindyebo returns to prison cell
Dalindyebo reportedly left the Life East London Private Hospital shortly after 3pm after he had spent 40 days undergoing treatment for chronic ulcers and depression.
A source with Correctional Services said the king was clearly not happy about being returned to the East London Maximum Correctional Centre.
“They cleared all offenders from the corridors and only allowed those who were cleaning to remain behind as the king entered.
“When the king stopped walking in protest, two warders lifted him up and he was pushed to his cell – the king then said ‘let go of me’ before he sat silent in his cell,” the source said.
The source said the squabble irked those offenders who had witnessed it – who felt the king was being disrespected.
The commotion, which is likely to upset the AbaThembu nation, occurred in front of the commissioner of the Eastern Cape correctional services department Nkosinathi Breakfast and Hannes Botes, the head of the East London Maximum Centre.
The Correctional Services department yesterday refused to comment.
Spokesman Zama Feni said he was out of town and could not attend to queries regarding the king.
Dalindyebo’s spokesman Prince Mthunzi Ngonyama said the family was told of the king’s re-incarceration late yesterday afternoon.
“I visited him earlier in the morning and his condition was not stable. He was very emotional. He is not taking all this lightly,” he said.
The department remained mum on the matter, with Breakfast not taking calls from the Dispatch.
The 51-year-old monarch is being kept in a private cell in Unit 5 of the maximum security prison.
The unit has been described as a high-risk area where there is strict access control for both officials and other offenders.
The king will continue to serve his 12-year jail sentence despite growing efforts by traditional leaders and his subjects to have him freed.
President Jacob Zuma has yet to decide on the petition by the Eastern Cape chapter of the Contralesa for Dalindyebo to be given clemency.
The embattled royal was rushed to hospital on the midnight of January 17 after he allegedly refused to take regular prison meals.
On Tuesday hundreds of AbaThembu bused in from the Eastern Cape to Gauteng marched to the Union Buildings in Pretoria to call on Zuma to immediately release Dalindyebo .
Deputy director in the Presidency Melisizwe Bleki received the AbaThembu petition.
He said the presidential pardon application by Contralesa was still being attended to by the Justice Department.
The king started serving his sentence on December 30 last year – for assault, kidnapping, arson and defeating the ends of justice.
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