Government’s justice, crime prevention and security (JCPS) cluster on Thursday cautioned that all recourse sought, in the wake of the North Gauteng High Court ruling which ordered that former president Jacob Zuma return to jail, must be in the confines of the law.
“We have noted the DCS (Department of Correctional Services) decision to appeal the judgment. As the cluster, we wish to reiterate our confidence in our constitutional democracy that provides that all people are equal before the law,” Police Minister Bheki Cele said in a presentation on behalf of ministers in the cluster.
“The separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary are the bedrock of our Constitution, and our courts function without fear or favour as they entrench the rule of law. Any form of recourse must follow appropriate channels within the confines of the law.”
Hours after the court ruled that Zuma’s medical parole is null and void, his foundation says his lawyers have already delivered an application to appeal “on the grounds that the judgment is clearly wrong”.
This means that the former head of state won’t be going back to jail until the appeal is heard by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, on a date yet to be determined.
On Wednesday, the High Court ruled that the medical parole that freed Zuma on September 5, two months into his 15-month sentence for contempt of the Constitutional Court, is null and void.
The South African economy suffered massively in July when riots erupted in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal provinces following the incarceration of Zuma. Numerous shopping malls and businesses were looted and vandalised.
IOL