Lolly Jackson murder suspect 'dying of cancer'

The Department of Justice and Correctional Services has transferred George Louca to another prison hospital section - after an urgent plea by the Cypriot high commission that "he was dying".

In a diplomatic communication, known as a note verbale, the Cypriot high commission informed the South African government this week that Louca should not be in a prison cell because of his deteriorating health condition.

Louca is the prime suspect in the murder of strip-club boss Lolly Jackson. He is scheduled to appear in court again next month.

Approached for comment, his lawyer, Owen Blumberg, confirmed that his client was transferred to a prison's hospital section in Gauteng on Friday night after being incarcerated at another prison since Wednesday, following his discharge from Steve Biko Academic Hospital in Pretoria.

Blumberg said Louca had been diagnosed with lung cancer and only got to know of his illness in writing for the first time this week.

"He's very ill; he has stage four cancer. He has a terminal condition and we don't know how long he's going to live. It's going to be entirely dependent on the quality of care he receives.

"He's getting better care today [yesterday] than he was getting yesterday."

Blumberg said his client should not have been discharged from Steve Biko hospital in the first place.

"It should never have happened. It's a matter of enormous concern for us that he was discharged in circumstances in which he ought never to have been discharged.

"He was sent out of hospital inappropriately and sent off to a prison cell.

"It's just extraordinary the way Steve Biko [hospital] conducted itself in the way it did."

He said his client had a right to have palliative treatment.

"Who decided to discharge my client when he desperately needed oxygen en route to the prison where he was being taken?"

He said Louca required further oxygen upon his arrival back at the prison and was only provided with this after asking for it.

Blumberg said Louca's family in Cyprus had also appealed to the South African government not to send him back to a prison cell: "There was a concern that he would not survive if he was not sent to an appropriate facility."

He said Louca only became aware of his medical condition in writing for the first time this week, despite his legal representative begging hospital authorities for days for his medical report.

Louca fled South Africa following Jackson's murder in 2010. The Sunday Times tracked him down in the seaside town of Limassol in Cyprus in 2011, when there were major efforts under way to have him extradited to South Africa.

Louca spilt the beans on his role in a tangled underworld web involving foreign fugitives, fast cars, strippers and assassination in South Africa.

He previously vowed that he would not go down alone.