Johannesburg – The Gauteng High Court in Pretoria has ordered the former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, to return to prison, after it declared that his medical parole was unlawful.
The court stated that former National Commissioner of Correctional Services Arthur Fraser’s decision to place Zuma under medical parole was unlawful.
“It is declared that the time (Zuma) was out of jail on medical parole should not be counted for the fulfilment of (Zuma’s) sentence of 15 months imposed by the Constitutional Court,” the High Court said.
Zuma and the national commissioner were further ordered to pay the costs of the medical parole challenge.
In September this year, the Department of Correctional Services said former president Jacob Zuma had been released on medical parole and will complete the remainder of his 15 months sentence outside prison.
“Medical parole’s eligibility for Mr Zuma is impelled by a medical report received by the Department of Correctional Services. Apart from being terminally ill and physically incapacitated, inmates suffering from an illness that severely limits their daily activity or self care can also be considered for medical parole, the statement from the department read at the time.
“Medical parole of Mr Zuma means he will complete the remainder of the sentence in the system of community corrections, whereby he must comply with specific set of conditions and will be subjected to supervision until his sentence expires,” the department further stated.
The Gauteng High Court, however, has ruled on Wednesday that this is not the case.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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