ANC president Jacob Zuma has lashed out at South Africans for wanting his former financial adviser Schabir Shaik dead, the Saturday Star reported.

In an interview with the publication on Friday, Zuma said he was "deeply saddened" that many South Africans had made up their minds that Shaik was lying about being at death's door.

"What has saddened me is how South Africans could be mean about somebody's life. Why is there such a problem when medical doctors who were working with the man say 'this man is sick, he needs to be out of prison'," Zuma said.

He said South Africans were behaving as if Shaik were a mass murderer whose release would harm other people. He said it was a very negative side of South Africans.

Shaik was sentenced to 15-year's imprisonment in 2005 for corruption and fraud.

He was released on medical parole two weeks ago after serving less than three years of his sentence.

Zuma said that even though people could not see the [medical] report, because of patient-doctor confidentiality, they should have had faith in the processes that were followed.

"You can't say so many officials, all the way up to the minister, were all corrupt and dishonest and wanted to smuggle a prisoner out, it can't be," Zuma said.

Zuma also denied that he will pardon his friend if he becomes president.

"The point I was making was that if there was medical evidence for him to go on parole, why would I not? Because I would do that for anyone, because that is within the law."

Zuma said he has not yet seen Shaik because he had been so busy campaigning for the 22 April elections, but did phone him [Shaik] last week.

"He sounded okay. All that dominated our discussion was how happy he was to be with his child, particularly the fact that the child was not bothered to go to the mother, but instead came to him. He was very happy to be with his child," Zuma said.

"I'm sure that at some point I will see him when I have a chance to get to Durban."

Zuma said he was confident that the elections would be incident-free and that the ANC would return to head the government with an even greater majority than the 66 percent it won in 2004.