ConCourt dismisses Zuma medical parole appeal
The Constitutional Court has dismissed former president Jacob Zuma's application for leave to appeal a ruling on his medical parole, paving the way for his return to jail.
The apex court found that his release on medical parole by former Correctional Services boss Arthur Fraser was illegal.
Zuma, 80, had been handed a 15-month term in June 2021 for contempt of court, a move that triggered deadly unrest.
But he served only two months before being given parole for medical reasons that remain unclear.
Parole was granted by the head of South Africa's prison service, despite an opinion by the service's medical committee that Zuma did not meet the required conditions.
In 2022, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the parole was "unlawful", and that Zuma had not finished serving his sentence and must return to jail.
AfriForum, which challenged the granting of Zuma's parole, said the former president should return to prison to serve his entire sentence.
"The question that now remains is whether Zuma should go back to prison or whether he has already served his sentence even if it was outside prison due to an illegal medical parole.
“No politician may be considered above the law. The illegal way in which Zuma escaped his prison sentence means he still has another sentence to serve behind bars,” said AfriForum’s Ernst van Zyl.
The apex court did not make a ruling on the time Zuma should stay behind bars.
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