Correctional Services ‘seeking legal advice’ on Zuma ruling
The Department of Correctional Services says it is studying the Constitutional Court judgment which denied an application for leave to appeal by former President Jacob Zuma.
Zuma wanted to approach the apex court to appeal a previous ruling on his medical parole.
On Thursday the court dismissed Zuma’s application paving the way for his return to jail.
Spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo says the department is seeking legal advice, and will comment further in due course.
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.
The apex court did not make a ruling on the time Zuma should stay behind bars.
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