Cape Town – The ANC KwaZulu-Natal has welcomed the news that former president Jacob Zuma will not serve any further time in prison for his 15-month sentence.
According to IOL, they view this as a positive development that will help heal the divisions caused by his imprisonment.
“We are happy that finally this matter which divided society has been put behind us. We are alive to the reality that those opposed to the ANC and the enemy of the people of this country used this matter to divide the ANC and to cause social instability.
“On this day we reiterate our commitment to rebuild the unity and renew the soul and fibre of the ANC, restoring it to its founding values of dedication to servicing our people with honesty and dignity, respect and humility,” the report quoted the ANC KwaZulu-Natal as saying.
They also express gratitude to President Cyril Ramaphosa for granting a special remission that led to Zuma’s release.
Zuma reported back to jail on Friday only to be swiftly released, the government said in the latest twist in the judicial saga over his contempt of court sentence.
Zuma was ordered to report back to prison and arrived at 6am local time at a detention facility in Estcourt, northwest of Durban, where was “admitted into the system”, the prison service said.
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But he was let go almost immediately as part of a “remission process” aiming to address overcrowding in prison, Correctional Services national commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale told a press conference in Pretoria
“Upon admission into the system he was subjected to administrative processes …He was then released,” Thobakgale said.
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 2021.
His jailing sparked protests that descended into riots and looting that 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.
In November last year an appeals court found the release was illegally granted and ordered the now 81-year-old back to the Estcourt Correctional Centre in the eastern KwaZulu-Natal province.
South Africa’s prison service, which had granted Zuma’s conditional release, appealed the decision, but the bid was dismissed by the Constitutional Court last month.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
Additional reporting by AFP
