ARETA condemns the two-faced deception committed by Cyril Ramaphosa in the matter of illegal incarceration and release of President Jacob Zuma
12 August 2023
ARETA rejects the two faced deception and trickery committed by Cyril Ramaphosa in the matter of the illegal incarceration of Former President Zuma.
There was no legal basis for the re-incarceration of President Zuma and there was no legal basis for the so-called remission of his sentence, which he had served in full.
ARETA recalls that the Supreme Court of Appeals set aside the High Court’s declaratory order that the time President Zuma was out on medical parole should not be considered for the fulfilment of his sentence of 15 months imposed by the Constitutional Court. The Court stated that: “Matters concerning how an inmate serves his or her sentence; when and how he or she qualifies for and is to be released on parole, quintessentially reside in the province of the executive – the Department in this instance”.
ARETA further recalls that as a matter of law, a parole does not shorten the length of a sentence. Instead parole is a change in the manner in which a sentence is served in that the parolee remains under the custody of the institution from which he is released but executes the unexpired portion of his sentence outside of confinement. Even a person mistakenly placed on parole continues to serve his sentence albeit outside the confines of prison walls. The Department of Correctional Services confirmed more than a year ago that President Zuma had indeed finished serving his sentence under parole. The SCA declared: “Whether the time spent by Mr Zuma on unlawfully granted medical parole should be taken into account in determining the remaining period of his incarceration, is not a matter for this Court to decide. It is a matter to be considered by the Commissioner.