Success: Court finds the granting of medical parole to Jacob Zuma was illegal thanks to AfriForum

13 July 2023

The Constitutional Court today dismissed former President Jacob Zuma’s leave to appeal and thus confirmed that the medical parole granted to Zuma by Arthur Fraser was illegal. This comes after the civil rights organisation AfriForum and others served an urgent court application against six respondents in 2021 in the case that involved the release of Zuma on medical parole. The court also decided to award costs against Zuma.

The question that now remains is whether Zuma should go back to prison or whether he has already served his sentence even if it was outside prison due to an illegal medical parole. AfriForum’s stance is that Zuma should go back to prison to serve his full sentence there.

“No politician may be considered above the law. The illegal way in which Zuma escaped his prison sentence means he still has another sentence to serve behind bars,” says Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer for Strategy and Content at AfriForum.

Issued by Ernst van Zyl, Campaign Officer: Strategy and Content, AfriForum, 13 July 2023