South Africa- Democratic Alliance (DA) leader, John Steenhuisen says the granting of medical parole to former President Jacob Zuma makes a mockery of the judicial system.
The party has today applied to the High Court in Pretoria to review and set aside a decision to put Zuma on medical parole.
Correctional Services Commissioner Arthur Fraser confirmed that he took a decision to rescind the recommendation by the medical parole board which had found that Zuma’s medical condition was stable.
Steenhuisen says this doesn’t bode well for the justice system.
“Mr Fraser’s parole decision harms the courts in exact same way as Zuma’s original defiance and contempt of court did. Again it makes a mockery of judicial processes and sends a clear message to South Africans that if connected you don’t have to worry, because one set of rules for cadres of ANC and another for the people of SA.”
On Thursday, some legal experts warned that Zuma could face further sanctions over his refusal to allow a state-appointed doctor to assess his health. This as Zuma’s ill health looks likely to force another postponement in his corruption case related to the multi-billion-rand arms deal.
The matter which was set to have been heard in the High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Thursday and was postponed to September 20.
Zuma was recently granted medical parole following his 15-month jail term after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of contempt of court for refusing to continue to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture.
Legal expert Dr Llewellyn Curlewis said, “A presiding judge won’t just give mere directives, he will give an instruction to which will ultimately amount to a direct order by the court and non-compliance of that order will be met with a negative inference or serious sanctioning by the court.”
SABC NEWS