Cape Town – The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has described the decision by the Pretoria High Court to send former president Jacob Zuma back to prison as “political revenge”.
The high court on Wednesday ordered Zuma to return to prison, invalidating the medical parole he was granted in September.
The decision to place Zuma on medical parole is “declared unlawful and set aside”, read the ruling by High Court Judge Elias Matojane.
But according to SABC, EFF spokesperson Vuyani Pambo said Zuma’s returning to jail would serve no purpose.
“Arresting Zuma is nothing but political revenge. If the law must serve the purpose of rehabilitation or bringing order to society, what is the purpose of arresting Zuma again?
“Why is Zuma a threat to society or what need is there to rehabilitate him? It’s the malicious use of the law. The point is that he must be corrected and in this case, it looks like there is a clear mandate to punish as opposed to correct,” the report quoted Pambo as saying.
Zuma, 79, was jailed in July for 15 months for contempt of court, after he refused to give testimony to corruption investigators.
His jailing sparked violent protests and looting in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal that spread to the financial hub Johannesburg in July, claiming over 350 lives.
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The former president was granted parole by the department of correctional services in early September.
His parole was challenged by a number of parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA).
They demanded an explanation from Fraser on the reasons behind his decision to place Zuma on medical parole.
Fraser admitted during an interview with SABC’s Vuyo Mvoko in September that he alone decided to grant medical parole to Zuma.
He said at the time that Zuma had declared his comorbidities.
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