A unanimous judgement by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has ordered that former president Jacob Zuma should return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre. He must complete the term of his sentence for contempt of court, it said.
The former president was incarcerated for contempt of court in July 2021. This was after he refused to appear before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture. However, he was released on medical parole a mere two months later, instead of serving his 15-month sentence.
The judgement on Thursday, penned by Judge Tati Makgoka, agreed with a 2021 ruling in the Gauteng High Court that Zuma’s release on medical parole was unlawful and unconstitutional. The SCA found that Zuma “has not finished serving his sentence”.
“He must return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre to do so. Whether the time spent by Mr Zuma on unlawfully granted medical parole should be taken into account in determining the remaining period of his incarceration, is not a matter for this court to decide,” the judgement read.
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Abuse of medical parole
Zuma was released on medical parole by former prisons boss Arthur Fraser. This was despite a recommendation by the Medical Parole Advisory Board’s (MPAB) that he did not qualify for it.
This prompted the Democratic Alliance (DA), AfriForum and Helen Suzman Foundation to challenge the decision at the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria. It subsequently found the decision to have been unlawful, but allowed Zuma and the Correctional Services department leave to appeal.
Reacting to the SCA’s judgement on Thursday, DA leader John Steenhuisen said the ruling set an important precedent for corruption.
“We hope it’s going to shut off the avenue of the abuse of medical parole by well-connected ANC individuals to avoid the outcomes of their criminal misdeeds as well as any corruption that may be found,” he said.
JG Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi declined to comment on the matter. The department, meanwhile, said in a statement it was “studying the Constitutional Court judgement for the review application in relation to the medical parole placement for the former president, Mr Jacob Zuma”.
It is now up to commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale to determine whether Zuma’s two months in jail count towards time served.
