STAFF REPORTER
THE Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has dismissed former president Jacob Zuma’s medical parole appeal.
The court has also ordered the former president to return to prison.
“Mr Zuma, in law, has not finished serving his sentence. He must return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre to do so,” the SCA said in its unanimous judgment on Monday.
“Whether 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 correctional services]. 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 and the Department of Correctional Services challenged the Gauteng High Court order which declared his release on medical parole was unlawful and irrational.
Civil rights group AfriForum and the Democratic Alliance (DA) maintained that Arthur Fraser, former Correctional Services Commissioner, did not have the power to overrule the decision of the parole board.
The genesis of the matter dates back to June 2021 when the Constitutional Court handed a 15-month prison sentence to Zuma.
Chief Justice Raymond Zondo took Zuma to the Constitutional Court for defying its order to continue appearing before the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.
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