The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein has ruled that the decision to release former president Jacob Zuma on early medical parole was “unlawful” and that he should return to prison to finish his sentence for contempt of court.
Zuma was last year handed a 15-month prison term after he ignored a court order to testify at a government inquiry into widespread corruption during his time at the helm of the government.
However, he served only two months before he was in September last year released on parole for medical reasons that remain unclear.
But, in December, the High Court set aside the parole decision and ordered him to return to jail, prompting Zuma to appeal that ruling.
In a judgment handed down on Monday, the SCA ruled that Zuma’s release was unlawful.
“This court has now determined that Mr Zuma’s release on medical parole was unlawful,” the SCA said.
“In other words, Mr Zuma, in law, has not finished serving his sentence. He must return to the Escourt Correctional Centre to do so,” it added, referring to a jail northwest of the city of Durban.
The SCA took issue with a claim by the Department of Correctional Services that Zuma’s sentence had ended in October while the appeal was still being heard.
It also found that the decision by the former national commissioner of correctional services to grant Zuma medical parole against the advice of the Medical Parole Advisory Board, a specialist body, was unlawful.
“On any conceivable basis, the commissioner’s decision was unlawful and unconstitutional. The High Court was correct to set it aside,” the SCA said in its judgment. – Staff Reporter