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The civil rights organisation AfriForum considers the Department of Correctional Services’ decision to grant Jacob Zuma remission of his sentence an insult to justice and the rule of law. Time spent on parole that was granted unlawfully does not count towards a sentence served. In 2023 the Constitutional Court upheld the Supreme Court of Appeal’s ruling that former Correctional Services Commissioner Arthur Fraser’s granting of medical parole in 2021 to Zuma just two months into his 15-month sentence was unlawful.

The Department’s narrative that Zuma was one of thousands of inmates who were granted special remission of sentences in an effort to alleviate overcrowding in prisons appears to be nothing more than a smokescreen to help a powerful politician escape justice.

“There is no more privileged and protected position in South Africa than being an ANC cadre. Zuma’s special treatment and evading of justice proves this once again. It is clear that the ANC will ensure that none of its comrades ever serve time behind bars, even if it makes a mockery of the rule of law in this country,” says Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer for Strategy and Content at AfriForum.

“The Jacob Zuma case proves that as long as the ANC are in power you can rest assured that anyone close to the party is effectively above the law,” Van Zyl concludes.

Issued by AfriForum