South African court allows Zuma to appeal return-to-jail order
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[December 21, 2021]
By Emma Rumney
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African
court on Tuesday granted former president Jacob Zuma leave to appeal a
ruling that he return to prison after being released in September on
medical parole, meaning he will be able to spend Christmas at home.
Zuma, 79, was sentenced in June to 15 months in prison for contempt of
court after ignoring instructions to participate in a corruption
inquiry.
He handed himself in to begin his sentence on July 7, triggering some of
the worst violence South Africa had seen in years. Anger from supporters
snowballed into broader outrage over hardship and inequalities that
persist 27 years after the end of apartheid.
Zuma began medical parole in September, but earlier this month South
Africa's high court ordered that decision void and that he should return
to jail - raising concerns about further violence.
That same court ruled on Tuesday his legal team should be able to appeal
against the judgment at a higher court.
"In my view, this matter merits the Supreme Court of Appeal's
attention," Judge Elias Matojane said.
He added there was a reasonable possibility another court may rule
differently on the issue of whether Zuma's time on medical parole should
count towards his sentence. Matojane previously ruled it should not.
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Former South African President Jacob Zuma sits in court during his
corruption trial in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, October 26,
2021. Jerome Delay/Pool via REUTERS/Files
"It means the court order cannot be enforced until the superior
court hears the matter and makes a judgment," Department of
Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo told Reuters
in a Whatsapp message.
The legal processes against Zuma for alleged corruption during his
nine-year reign are widely viewed as a test of post-apartheid South
Africa's ability to enforce the rule of law against powerful
individuals.
Zuma's 2009-2018 presidency was marred by allegations of graft and
wrongdoing, and he faces a separate corruption trial linked to his
sacking as deputy president in 2005 when he was implicated in a $2
billion allegedly corrupt arms deal.
He denies wrongdoing in all cases and says he is the victim of a
political witchhunt.
(Additional reporting by Olivia Kumwenda in Johannesburg; Editing by
Tim Cocks and Nick Macfie)
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