The Department of Correctional Services says it will appeal the Supreme Court of Appeals (SCA) ruling that former President Jacob Zuma’s medical probation was unlawful.
On Wednesday, the department said it had studied the ruling and believed a different court might reach a different conclusion.
“DCS [Department of Correctional Services] is considering this course based on the interpretation and application of the Correctional Services Act and other relevant prescriptions,” spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo said.
On Monday, the SCA ruled that former head of prison services, Arthur Fraser, illegally authorized Zuma’s release on medical parole in September last year.
The former president had served less than two months of his 15-month sentence at the Estcourt Correctional Services facility in KwaZulu-Natal.
READ | Jacob Zuma must go back to jail and prison bosses must ‘legally’ decide on his release: appeals court
He was arrested in July for contempt of the Constitutional Court.
The unanimous ruling, written by Judge Tati Makgoka, said Zuma must return to the facility and complete his sentence.
The SCA added that it was not its mandate to consider whether the time he spent on medical probation should be taken into account in determining the remaining period of his sentence.
He said that Fraser’s successor, Commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale, should look into this.
“It is a matter for the commissioner to consider. If empowered by law to do so, the commissioner could take that period into account to determine any request or cause for release,” the ruling reads.
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