By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) is asking the interested parties to comment on former president Jacob Zuma’s possible return to jail.
This comes after Constitutional Court upheld a previous order declaring the former president’s release on medical parole illegal.
Zuma served two months of his 15-month sentence for contempt of court in 2021.
The Department’s Singabakho Nxumalo says those wanting to comment on the matter have until the 4th of August to do so.
“Thereafter, the National Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale will consider every material relevant to the matter, including guiding prescripts within the space of Corrections and make a decision.”
The ConCourt dismissed an appeal against the order of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA). Its effect was that the SCA order stands. The SCA had ordered the decision to grant Zuma medical parole was invalid and set it aside.
Zuma served less than two months of his 15-month sentence handed to him by the ConCourt for contempt of court after he failed to obey its order to abide by the lawful summons of the state capture inquiry.
In September 2021 he was released on medical parole by former correctional services commissioner Arthur Fraser.
That decision was set aside as unlawful by the courts. However, the SCA judgment left it in the commissioner’s hands to decide whether he was empowered by law to consider whether the time Zuma has already spent on medical parole can be considered in determining “the remaining period of his incarceration”.
The SCA judgment said the effect of its order was that, in law, Zuma would be in the position just before Fraser’s decision.
It is an unusual situation for Thobakgale now because Zuma has already served the full term of his sentence on medical parole. It is understood Thobakgale has already obtained at least two legal opinions on his options.
In a letter to the Democratic Alliance (DA) on Thursday, Thobakgale said his decision to seek representations was based on the Administrative Justice Act which required anyone who might be affected by an administrative decision be given a reasonable opportunity to make representations.
Meaning Zuma now has less than 10 days to make submissions to national commissioner as to why he should not return to prison.
DA insists Zuma would have to spend at least 55 days in prison before Thobakgale would be lawfully entitled to consider an application for ordinary parole.
This was the view expressed in a letter from the DA’s attorneys to Thobakgale after he wrote to “interested parties” last week asking them for representations on how to deal with the vexed question of Zuma’s parole.