Cape Town – The Jacob Zuma Foundation has criticised reports that the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) has ordered former President Jacob Zuma to return to jail, calling them “malicious, misleading, and hateful”.
The foundation has directed inquiries regarding the ConCourt’s judgment on Zuma’s parole to the Department of Correctional Services (DCS).
The apex court on Thursday upheld an earlier ruling that former president Jacob Zuma should return to prison to complete his 15-month term for contempt of court, dismissing an appeal seeking to keep him out of jail.
It was not immediately clear whether Zuma would return to jail, with prison authorities saying they were studying the judgement and would seek legal advice.
Zuma was sentenced in June 2021 after refusing to testify before a panel probing financial sleaze and cronyism under his presidency — but was freed on medical parole just two months into his term.
He started serving the sentence early in July.
His jailing sparked riots that descended into looting and left more than 350 dead in the worst violence to hit the country since the advent of democracy in South Africa.
The following month, he was admitted to hospital for an undisclosed condition before being granted medical parole.
The ConCourt deemed the department’s appeal as having no reasonable chance of success and dismissed it with costs.
Additionally, the ConCourt rejected Zuma’s application for leave to intervene, as he missed the deadline to appeal the SCA ruling.
The Zuma Foundation’s spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said that the reports of Zuma returning to jail were misleading and that the SCA refused to grant such an order, instead deferring the issue to the DCS for a decision.
“For the record, the media reports that the ConCourt ordered Pres Zuma to ”go back to prison are malicious, misleading and hateful. Fact: The SCA, whose decision has been upheld by ConCourt, actually refused to grant that ridiculous order and referred the issue to the DCS to decide.”
FORTHE RECORD
The media reports that the ConCourt ordered Pres Zuma to”go back to prison are malicious, misleading and hateful.
FACT:The SCA, whose decision has been upheld by ConCourt, actually refused to grant that ridiculous order and referred the issue to the DCS to decide.— Mzwanele Manyi (@MzwaneleManyi) July 13, 2023
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
