GOOD Statement by Brett Herron,
GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
21 November 2022
The ruling by the Supreme Court of Appeal that the granting of medical parole to former President Jacob Zuma was unlawful, and that he should return to prison, affirms the principle that all South Africans are accountable to the same set of laws.
Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison last year for contempt of a Constitutional Court order, serving just two months behind bars before being released in opaque circumstances amid claims of a terminal illness.
It is noteworthy that the alleged illness hasn’t stopped him from declaring his candidacy for a top ANC position next month.
The Gauteng High Court ruled his release unlawful, and now the Supreme Court has agreed. We assume a Constitutional Court petition will follow…
When Zuma was incarcerated last July it triggered a radical outburst of violence, the destruction of property and mass looting. The events were later described as an insurrection. Whatever they were, they evidently struck the country’s intelligence apparatus like a bolt from the blue.
Zuma’s strategies to evade accountability cannot include holding the country’s laws and civil order to ransom. If sentenced by the court to serve a term of imprisonment he must do the time, the same as thousands of other South Africans do.
We agree with the appellate division’s concern over a statement recently issued by the Department of Correctional Services claiming that Zuma had officially completed his sentence. The statement was premature, given that the court had yet to pronounce on the matter.
Instead of seemingly endlessly being wound around Zuma’s finger, South Africans are desperate for signs that the rule of law still exists.
Media Enquiries:
Brett Herron, GOOD Secretary-General & Member of Parliament
Cell: 0825183264
Email: bretth@forgood.org.za
Janke Tolmay, GOOD Media Manager
Cell: 0733671223
Email: janke@forgood.org.za