Former president Jacob Zuma must go back to jail – Court rules

Former president Jacob Zuma must return to jail to complete his prison term for contempt of an apex court order, the appeals court has found.

A full bench of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) on Monday ruled against acting national correctional services commissioner Makgothi Samuel Thobakgale and Zuma, who filed an appeal against a December 2021 decision of the High Court…

In a decision written by Judge Tati Makgoka, the SCA stressed that the effect of its order that Zuma had unlawfully been granted medical parole was that “Mr Zuma, in law, 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,” News24 quoted the court as saying.

“It is a matter to be considered by the commissioner. 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.“

Zuma was granted medical parole after he was hospitalised days after he handed himself in, in July 2021 after the Constitutional Court found him guilty for contempt of court and was to serve 15 months in prison.

The Gauteng high court in Pretoria reviewed and set aside Zuma’s initial successful application for parole in December 2021.