The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) has indicated its decision to appeal the ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) that former president Jacob Zuma be sent back to jail to complete his 15-month sentence.
This is after the country’s second highest found that the medical parole granted to Zuma was unlawfully.
The court unanimously ruled that Zuma, who wants to be the ANC’s next national chairperson, was unlawfully granted medical parole.
“The effect of the setting aside of this declarator is that once the order in this appeal is handed down, Mr Zuma’s position as it was prior to his release on medical parole will be reinstated,” the judgment reads.
“In other words, Mr Zuma, in law, has not finished serving his sentence. He must return to the Escourt 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.
“It is a matter to be considered by the commissioner [of the Department of Correctional Service]. If he is empowered by law to do so, the commissioner might take that period into account in determining any application or grounds for release.”
The court judgment suggests that newly appointed national commissioner of DCS, Samuel Thobakgale, will have a big role in determining Zuma’s fate.
However, the DCS said in a statement on Wednesday night that it will appeal the ruling.
“Having carefully studied the judgement, Correctional Services is convinced that another court may arrive at a different decision. DCS is considering this course on the basis of the interpretation and application of the Correctional Services Act and other relevant prescripts,” the statement reads.
Zuma himself, through his foundation has indicated his displeasure with the ruling by the SCA.
“In view of this total injustice and outrage. H.E (his excellency) President Zuma has instructed his legal team to craft an opinion to advise him of his legal options within the next few weeks. There is no new crisis, and we should all leave the matter in the hands of the law and our democratic institutions,’ the statement from the foundation reads.
Zuma, who spent two months at the Estcourt correctional centre in KwaZulu-Natal, was arrested in July 2021 for contempt of court.
This after he was found guilty by the Constitutional Court for failing to appear before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture chaired by chief justice Raymond Zondo earlier in the year.
In September 2021, former correctional services commissioner Arthur Fraser ordered the release of the former statesman on medical parole, but a high court judge in Gauteng, Elias Matojane, ruled in December 2021 that Fraser erred in his decision.
Matojane ordered that the former president returns to jail to serve the remainder of his 15-month jail sentence.
Zuma’s lawyers, led by advocate Dali Mpofu, appealed Matojane’s ruling and argued before the SCA that sending him back to jail would be tantamount to imposing a double sentence.
His arrest triggered a wave of violence in some parts of KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, which resulted in the deaths of more than 300 people and billions of rands lost to the economy.
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