Africa-Press – South-Africa. Opposition parties believe the sudden rush to release thousands of prisoners early was simply a smokescreen and guise from the government to ensure former president Jacob Zuma was shielded from carrying out the remainder of his prison sentence for contempt of court.
The DA led the charge in making the first legal threat to challenge the Department of Correctional Services’ decision to designate Zuma as a prisoner who was entitled to early release as part of a special programme that came into effect on Friday.
Department of Correctional Services acting national commissioner, Makgothi Thobakgale, said during a briefing on Friday that it was decided that Zuma should return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.
He was released on medical parole in September 2021.
At the same briefing, Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola said that Zuma had benefitted from the special remission President Cyril Ramaphosa had approved.
The remission programme kicked in the same day that Zuma was expected back at the prison.
Political parties believe the sequence of events was too aligned and suspicious not to think that Ramaphosa had specifically designed the special remission programme to align with Zuma’s return to prison and to ensure he never served any time.
Zuma was out of the prison within minutes of his admission.
The DA said the actions by Ramaphosa and correctional services officials warranted shaming and likely, a legal challenge. DA MP Glynnis Breytenbach described the decision as an elaborate scheme designed for Zuma.
“This elaborate scheme devised only to let a single man out of prison means that over 9 400 convicted criminals will be let out of prison – simply to avoid the reincarceration of Mr Zuma. The DA will be seeking to take further legal action to challenge this abomination of a decision,” Breytenbach said.
“This morning, South Africans witnessed a new low in the way the ANC government plays fast and loose with the ‘rule of law’ and the criminal justice system as a whole. The early morning press conference announcing that former president Jacob Zuma had been released on special remission was nothing more than smoke and mirrors. It has now emerged that Zuma spent less than two hours in prison prior to his release,” she said.
ActionSA leader Heman Mashaba shared similar sentiments.
“This move makes a mockery of the criminal justice system in South Africa by demonstrating once again that President Ramaphosa puts the ANC first and the country second. The criminal and civil justice system relies on the principle of ensuring that there are consequences for unlawful acts.
“President Zuma knowingly and deliberately defied our apex court and publicly demonstrated his disdain for the legal system. Instead of affirming the supremacy of the rule of law in South Africa, by ensuring Zuma accounts for his actions, President Ramaphosa’s government has bent over backwards to allow him to evade the consequences of his actions,” Mashaba said.
Civil rights group AfriForum also weighed and said the decision was a clear message that “ANC cadres” have the highest protected status in the country.
AfriForum campaign officer Ernst van Zyl also said the sudden remission status of thousands of prisoners was a smokescreen designed to ensure Zuma escaped the law and justice.
The organisation said the ANC was willing to risk the status of the country’s justice system to protect its members at all costs, including “making a mockery of the justice system”.
The IFP welcomed the release of Zuma in what it described as “justice with mercy”.
However, the party warned that what happened should not set a “precedent.”
“While we welcome that the decision to release former president Jacob Zuma closes the door to more possible unrest, we wish to state clearly that it should not be considered a precedent. Lawlessness and violence – or the threat of violence – must never outweigh the need for justice, accountability, and consequences of one’s actions,” the party’s statement read.
The National Freedom Party (NFP) was the first party to welcome Zuma’s release and remission status.
The NFP believes that Ramaphosa faced political pressure and fears from the July 2021 riots that followed Zuma’s initial incarceration.
ANC denies SA is ‘failed state’
The ANC also welcomed Zuma’s remission status. ANC spokesperson Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the decision should not be read in a manner that projects the country as a failed state.
“We welcome the decision on the remission of sentence of president Jacob Zuma alongside a number of offenders. We are confident in the resilience and robustness of our judiciary and law enforcement agencies. We have no reason to doubt our judiciary, and there is no truth that there is failed state,” she told News24.
The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal, Zuma’s home province, described the former president’s release as a revolutionary move in line with the Freedom Charter.
“Imprisonment shall be only for serious crimes against the people and shall aim at re-education, not vengeance. We emphasised that the work of correctional services was based on this clause of the Freedom Charter,” the ANC KZN said in a statement.
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