Daily news update: Zuma’s medical parole ruling, ‘shut up’ comment haunts Mpofu and Western Cape Covid-19 cases

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Court rules Zuma’s medical parole was unlawful, orders his return to prison

The Pretoria High Court on Wednesday morning ruled that former national commissioner of correctional services Arthur Fraser’s decision to place former president Jacob Zuma on medical parole in September was unlawful and has set aside the decision.

The application to review Zuma’s medical parole was lodged by the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Helen Suzman Foundation (HSF) and AfriForum after Fraser admitted during an interview with SABC News that he had overridden the Medical Parole Advisory Board’s decision not to release the former president from jail.

“The decision of the first respondent (Mr Arthur Fraser at the time) to place the third respondent (Zuma) on medical parole, taken on 5 September 2021, is reviewed, declared unlawful and set aside.

Zuma appeals judgment overturning his release on medical parole

Former president Jacob Zuma’s legal team has delivered his application for leave to appeal Wednesday’s judgment by the Pretoria High Court overturning his release on medical parole, his foundation confirmed.

The Jacob Zuma Foundation announced on Twitter that the former president wanted to appeal the high court’s judgment at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein.

The foundation said Zuma was appealing the ruling “on the grounds that the judgment is clearly wrong and there are strong prospects that a higher court will come to a totally different conclusion”.

DCS to appeal Zuma ruling, says court ‘misinterpreted’ Correctional Services Act

The department of correctional services (DCS) will be appealing the judgment handed down by the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria, on the medical parole placement of former president Jacob Zuma.

“Having carefully studied the judgment, DCS is convinced that another court may arrive at a different conclusion. DCS is of the view that the court sadly misinterpreted the Correctional Services Act and erred in declaring the decision of the national commissioner to place Zuma of medical parole to be unlawful and setting it aside,” said DCS in a statement on Wednesday.

Stage 8 load shedding a possibility if Eskom pollutes less

If more than 10,000 megawatts (MW) are taken off Eskom’s national grid, South Africa could be plunged into darkness due to the possibility of stage 8 load shedding.

This comes after the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (DFFE) rejected Eskom’s application, which sought pollution exemptions for its power stations.

Eskom was ordered to comply with minimum emission standards (MES) – which may cost the embattled power utility R300 billion – or be forced to close down 16,000MW of installed coal-fired capacity on its national grid.

Covid-19 infections rising in Western Cape, while Northern Cape numbers stay low

Covid-19 infections are on the rise in the Western Cape ,with the province hitting an average of 2,000 daily cases.

The proportion positive has increased to an average of 38% and hospital admissions are showing signs of an early increase ,with 65 admissions per day.

But the head of the province’s health department Dr Keith Cloete says patients seeking medical treatment for other conditions are testing positive for Covid-19 during routine examinations.

Meanwhile, deaths remain low, with less than one death per day.

Legal Practice Council wants Mpofu to be charged for telling Pravin to ‘shut up’

A committee of the Legal Practice Council (LPC) has reportedly slammed advocate Dali Mpofu for his “shut up” outburst at the Commission of the Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture earlier this year, and ordered that he be charged for unprofessional conduct.

The incident relates to the cross-examination of Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan in March, in which Mpofu – acting on behalf of former South African Revenue Services commissioner  Tom Moyane – told advocate Michelle le Roux to “shut up” during a heated exchange over her questioning of the minister. Le Roux was representing Gordhan during the commission’s proceedings.

Government wants UK to pay damages caused to SA’s economy due to red listing

The Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) wants the United Kingdom (UK) to cover the costs of the money lost due to the travel ban imposed on South Africa.

This comes after the UK removed South Africa and 10 other African countries from its red list barring incoming travel.

The British government and a number of other countries imposed a travel ban on South Africa following the detection of the Covid-19 Omicron variant.

The move was widely criticised, with International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor insisting that South Africa was being “punished” for “excellent science” because the country had alerted the world to the new variant.