The country’s highest court also thinks ex-pres. Jacob Zuma should go back to prison.
The Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed Zuma’s leave to appeal with costs, thus confirming that the medical parole granted to the ex-president by Arthur Fraser, the former commissioner of the Department of Correctional Services (DKD), in September 2021, was unlawful wash.
This follows after the DA, AfriForum and the Helen Suzman Foundation filed an urgent court application in 2021 in the case involving the release of Zuma on medical parole.
However, the question now is whether the former president will hear the prison doors slam behind him again or not.
In November last year, the Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein dismissed Zuma and Fraser’s appeal application regarding Zuma’s release on medical parole with costs.
Zuma and the DCD appealed against the Pretoria High Court’s decision of 2021 that Zuma’s release on medical parole was unlawful and that he must serve the remainder of his sentence.
Zuma was of the opinion that the verdict is clearly wrong and that there is a strong possibility that a higher court would come to a completely different conclusion.
However, the Constitutional Court has now found that there are no reasonable prospects of success as far as Zuma’s appeal is concerned.
In response to the latest verdict, AfriForum said on Thursday that Zuma should go back to prison to serve his full sentence there.
“No politician may be considered above the law. The illegal way in which Zuma escaped his prison sentence means he still has a sentence that he must serve behind bars,” says Ernst van Zyl, campaign officer for strategy and content at AfriForum.
