DA leader John Steenhuisen has put feelers out for the Department of Correctional Services to decide on former president Jacob Zuma’s freedom after the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruled that his release on medical parole was unlawful.
Steenhuisen said the official opposition has written to acting national commissioner of correctional services demanding him to send Zuma back in jail to complete his sentence.
“The DA yesterday sent a lawyer’s letter to acting national commissioner of correctional services, Mr MS Thobakgale, demanding that he confirms within 48 hours that he will ensure that Mr Jacob Zuma is returned by 17h00 on Friday, 25 November 2022, to the Estcourt correctional centre to serve out the remainder of his sentence,” said Steenhuisen.
Steenhuisen said the embattled former statesman must be taken back to prison by means of arrest, if he fails to do so voluntarily.
“The DA’s legal letter points out that Mr Zuma is obliged by order to immediately return to the Estcourt correctional centre, and if he fails to do so within reasonable time, the commissioner of correctional services is obliged to ensure that he is returned – by arrest if necessary.
“This case, National Commissioner of Correctional Services v Democratic Alliance, was brought by the DA because we are determined to ensure that the democratic principles of equality before the law and accountability are upheld.”
Meanwhile, the Institute for Race Relations is also seeking legal guidance to clarify uncertainties it has picked up around this matter.
According to head of campaigns, Gabriel Crouse, the organisation is not satisfied that the Department of Correctional Services needs to decide on whether it takes Zuma back or not, because it was the department that set him free.
The SCA said [in its judgment] that “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.”
“As such, the SCA has found that the [then commissioner of correctional services Arthur Fraser] acted unlawfully by releasing Zuma, yet has determined that the same office must now decide whether to remedy that unlawful conduct. This is not easy to understand,” Crouse lamented.
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, 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 should go back to prison to serve the remainder of his 15-month jail sentence.
Zuma’s lawyers, led by advocate Dali Mpofu, had argued before the SCA that sending him back to jail would be tantamount to imposing a double sentence.
Zuma’s 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.
Sunday World reported in June that Zuma’s supporters have warned of more chaos should the SCA send him back to jail. Nkosentsha Shezi, a core Zuma ally and spokesperson of the Radical Economic Transformation grouping in the governing party, said this time they would not be bypassed.
“I can assure you that ubab’ Msholozi will not go to jail again. He is an elderly statesman who should be left alone to rest and enjoy his last years with his family,” said Shezi at the time.
“Ordinary people on the ground are sympathetic to his unlawful persecution by his comrades using state organs. Our hope is that the courts will not tear this country apart.”
Also read: Zuma’s fate rests with Correctional Services commissioner
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