Supreme Court of Appeal to hand down judgment in Zuma’s medical parole appeal

The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein is on Monday expected to hand down judgment in former President Jacob Zuma’s medical parole appeal.

Zuma and the Correctional Services Department challenged the High Court order which declared his release on medical parole irrational, unlawful and unconstitutional.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) had earlier submitted in the SCA that the former Correctional Services Commissioner, Arthur Fraser, erred in believing that he was entitled to release Zuma on medical parole.

The party insists that Zuma is neither terminally ill nor physically incapacitated to serve time behind bars. He was handed a 15-month prison sentence by the Constitutional Court in June last year after he defied its order to appear before the State Capture Commission.

In June last year, the Constitutional Court handed Zuma a 15-month prison sentence after he defied its order to continue appearing before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.

Legal analyst, Mpumelelo Zikalala, unpacks Zuma’s medical parole appeal: 

Parole appeal was legal 

Zuma’s lawyers have since insisted that Fraser acted within the legal bounds when he released him on medical parole.

In papers before the SCA, the legal team argues that Zuma had been examined by three medical practitioners who had confirmed his illness.

The team, led by Advocate Dali Mpofu, further contends that the DA, the Helen Suzman Foundation and AfriForum mounted a legal challenge even though they did not have detailed medical records of the former president to ascertain his condition.

Discussion on former President Jacob Zuma’s medical parole being found unlawful with Modidima Mannya: