An appeal court in South Africa said on Monday that former
president, Jacob Zuma, was unlawfully given medical parole from a jail term
last year and should return to prison to complete his sentence.
Zuma, 80, had been handed a 15-month term in June 2021 for
contempt of court, a move that triggered deadly unrest.
But he served only two months before being given parole for
medical reasons that remain unclear.
Parole was granted by the head of South Africa’s prison
service, despite an opinion by the service’s medical committee that Zuma did
not meet the required conditions.
“This court has now determined that Mr Zuma’s release on
medical parole was unlawful,” the supreme court of appeal said.
“Mr Zuma in law has not finished serving this sentence. He
must return to the Estcourt Correctional Center to do so,” it said, referring
to a jail northwest of the city of Durban.
According to medical assessments cited in the appeal court’s
decision, Zuma has problems linked to high blood pressure, elevated levels of blood
sugar and lesions of the colon.
Zuma, a prominent figure in the fight against apartheid,
became president in 2009 and was forced to step down in disgrace by the ANC in
2018 following mounting corruption allegations.
But he remains a revered figure among grassroots members of
the ruling African National Congress, who perceive him as a defender of the
poor and oppressed.
When his jail term was announced, violent protests broke out
that spiralled into looting, leaving 350 people dead.
The order by the supreme court of appeal is unlikely to be
the final word in the long-running saga, as Zuma still has recourse to the
Constitutional Court, the highest judicial instance in the land.
The prison authorities last month announced that Zuma’s
15-month term was now formally over.
He has since made several public appearances, singing and
dancing before his supporters, and launched a verbal attack on his successor,
Cyril Ramaphosa, accusing him of graft and treason.
Ramaphosa faces a crucial ANC conference next month, seeking
re-election at a time when he is under pressure over allegations that he
concealed a multi-million-dollar cash heist at his luxury farmhouse.
Zuma was jailed for refusing to testify to a high-level
inquiry into massive state corruption that unfolded under his presidency.
He also faces separate corruption charges over an arms deal
dating back more than two decades.
AFP
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