Johannesburg – The partner of businessman Frank Buyanga Sadiqi – a British national with Zimbabwean and South African residency arrested for alleged ID fraud – fears he could die before his next court appearance.
Anisha Mohamed says her ailing partner, who has been held at the Johannesburg Maximum Security Prison since November last year, is being denied medical treatment.
Initially, the millionaire businessman, who owns Africa Medallion Group, was arrested by Interpol on 10 November 2022 for allegedly abducting his son in Zimbabwe and bringing him to South Africa, where he resides.
Sadiqi was granted R150 000 bail by the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court in December, but before he could be released, he was charged with fraud.
At the time, Sadiqi’s lawyer said the new charges included fraud and contravention of the Immigration Act.
“The State alleges his ID is not proper. There are a lot of conflicting versions about this, and we are yet to receive the docket detailing these charges,” the lawyer said.
Sadiqi is due back in court later this month on 12 April 2023 for pre-trial.
However, Anisha fears her partner might not make it to court unless he receives the necessary medical treatment he has been asking for, but has so far been denied.
Anisha says since early February her partner has been complaining of ill health and has written several letters to the prison authorities to allow him to see a doctor, but this has not happened.
“During the month of February, Mr Sadiqi fell terribly ill and would write to the heads of prison numerous times with no response of help,” said Anisha.
“What’s even more frustrating is that the magistrate dealing with his matter further gave an order for him to be seen by the state’s doctor which was ignored by the heads of prison.”
Anisha said in addition to being denied access to medical treatment, Sadiqi has been deprived of the opportunity of responding to Home Affairs correspondence regarding his status in South Africa.
“Before he was granted bail on his first matter, the Magistrate also ordered that Mr Sadiqi be taken to the Department of Home Affairs as he was served with a letter on the 28th of November 2022 (whilst incarcerated), which stated that he is a prohibited person in South Africa,” said Anisha.
“The letter gave him 10 days to appeal his legal status in the country but the Department of Correctional Services and South African Police Service refused to take him to Home Affairs.”
Anisha said she was worried her partner’s rights were being trampled on while his health condition was deteriorating.
She suspects that Zimbabwe President Emmerson Mnangagwa may be behind Sadiqi’s woes.
The mother of Sadiqi’s son – the one he allegedly kidnapped – is linked to Mnangagwa, who Anisha believes is leaning on his South African counterparts to punish her partner.
In June 2020, Sadiqi was involved in a custody tussle with the mother of his son.
The case led to him writing to the President of Zimbabwe to complain that the president’s son, Collins, was interfering with the custody case.
Sadiqi alleged that he was not receiving the protection of the law because Collins was dating the mother of son.
Anisha says she is aware Sadiqi is now considered a flight risk and that prison authorities may have received instructions from higher up to prevent the accused from accessing medical treatment.
