By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) has launched a court application to declare that correctional services department head Arthur Fraser’s decision to grant former president Jacob Zuma medical parole is unlawful and is set aside.
This is the second application before the high court in Pretoria challenging the national commissioner’s decision to grant Zuma parole. The Democratic Alliance (DA) has also filed urgent court papers seeking to overturn Zuma’s release.
The HSF said it wrote to Fraser last Monday to request the record of and the reasons for his decision to place Zuma on medical parole.
The foundation said Fraser did not respond to its request by Sep. 13, the deadline set for response.
The foundation then launched its urgent application before the court on Tuesday in two parts.
In Part A, the HSF seeks the record of and the reasons for Fraser’s decision to place Zuma on medical parole. This is to facilitate the relief sought in Part B of its application, which is the review and setting aside of Fraser’s decision.
The HSF also seeks an order substituting the decision with a decision refusing Zuma’s application for medical parole.
In June, the Constitutional Court sentenced Zuma to a 15-month jail sentence for contempt of court for failure to comply with an earlier court order that he honour a summons to appear before the state capture inquiry.
Zuma was released on Sep. 5, which was 58 days after he was admitted as an inmate at the Estcourt Correctional Services facility in KwaZulu-Natal on July 8.
Meanwhile Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele refrained from entering the fray regarding reports that President Cyril Ramaphosa was aware of former president Jacob Zuma’s medical parole before it was granted.
This is after City Press reported on Sunday that National Commissioner of Correctional Services Arthur Fraser allegedly consulted Ramaphosa before deciding to release Zuma from prison.
Fraser admitted last week that he had overridden the Medical Parole Advisory Board’s decision not to free Zuma from jail.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday morning ahead of the three-day Cabinet lekgotla that is currently underway at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, Gungubele said the decision to release Zuma was taken by the relevant department “as best as they can”.
However, the minister refused to comment on whether Ramaphosa was indeed informed about the matter beforehand, saying he was “not in a position to answer allegations”.