'Zuma did not need to apply for early release'

Former president Jacob Zuma did not have to apply for medical parole as there are provisions for his doctors to make recommendations for his release from jail based on his ill health.

Correctional services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo yesterday told Sowetan that several reports were considered before Zuma was granted medical parole.

The department yesterday announced that Zuma had been granted medical parole.

“An inmate does not need to apply for any form of parole. The normal parole gets activated by case management committee. But if someone is ill, either the treating doctor or even a head of centre or nurse can put in a recommendation. In this case, there was a case brought by the doctors that were treating him, that he be considered for medical parole.

“It is not just one report which said he needed to be considered for medical parole. The various treating doctors gave us reports,” he said.

Nxumalo said in a statement that section 75(7)(a) of the Correctional Services Act 111 of 1998 empowers its national commissioner to place under medical parole a sentenced offender serving a sentence of incarceration for 24 months or less.

“Apart from being terminally ill and physically incapacitated, inmates suffering from an illness that severely limits their daily activity or self-care can also be considered for medical parole.

“The risk of re-offending of released inmates must also be low and there must be appropriate arrangements for the inmate’s supervision, care and treatment within the community to which the inmate is to be released to,” Nxumalo explained in the statement.

Zuma has been receiving medical treatment and underwent surgery last month at a hospital outside the Estcourt correctional centre where he had been imprisoned for contempt of court in July.

Zuma was jailed after the Constitutional Court found him in contempt for his failure to appear before the state capture commission of inquiry.

He was serving a 15-month sentence.

Nxumalo said the decision to grant Zuma parole was effective yesterday and that he did not have to report to a correctional facility once he is released from hospital.

Last week, it was reported that Zuma could be held in contempt again if he refused to be examined by doctors sanctioned by the National Prosecuting Authority.

Nxumalo declined to divulge which doctors recommended that Zuma be considered for parole.

KwaZulu-Natal High Court judge Piet Koen ordered that the NPA “may grant a medical practitioner of its choice to examine Mr Zuma to assess his ability to stand trial for corruption and for that doctor to be a witness, if necessary”.

This was in relation to the arms deal corruption case in the Pietermaritzburg high court.

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said Zuma had to be allowed to go home and rest as he was sick and old.

He said his incarceration had been crucial as it sent a message that everyone was within the reach of the long arm of the law, including those who wielded significant political influence.

“Yes, there have been some mistakes he made in his political career but he has made contributions to the country. He must be allowed to receive the medial parole. We have now proved a point as a country that nobody is above the law. What we need now is to target the young thieves with energy and ensure that they stay behind bars,” Holomisa added.

IFP spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the party hoped that the correctional services department had issued Zuma’s medical parole legally as it remained concerned about his refusal to have his health condition examined by the state.

“We hope that the decision was taken within the parameters of the law and that there is credibility to the medical examination report that was used to issue the medical parole. The point has been proven, though, that everyone is equal before the law but any decision to release him has to be within the confines of the law and the evidence that warrants his release must be credible,” Hlengwa said.