ConCourt dismisses rescission application: Zuma 0, Zondo 2

Former president Jacob Zuma has tasted defeat after the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruled in favour of the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture in his rescission application.

Justice Sisi Khampepe delivered the judgement on Friday after the ConCourt’s full bench deliberated on the outcome during the past two months.

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In a majority judgement, the apex court upheld its previous ruling dismissing Zuma’s application with costs – including the cost of two counsel.

“The majority of the constitutional court justices find that Mr Zuma has not met the statutory requirements for a rescission,” Khampepe said.

Jail sentence

Back in June, the ConCourt made a landmark ruling and sentenced Zuma to 15 months after finding him guilty of contempt of court.

The former president had refused to abide by its order to return to the Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, to testify before it.

This then saw Zuma’s legal team filing an urgent application to the reverse the 79-year-old’s contempt ruling and his imprisonment.

The matter was opposed by the commission, who wanted Zuma’s application dismissed with costs and that he remain in jail.

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After hearing the former president’s application on 12 July, the ConCourt then reserved its judgement in the matter.

At the time, the Pietermaritzburg High Court had also dismissed an urgent application to stay Zuma’s detention.

Zuma’s incarceration also sparked days of violent unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, which saw property and infrastructure being damaged while malls and retails stores were looted.

More than 300 people were left dead as a result of the unrest. 

Medical parole

The judgement also amid Zuma’s release from prison as he was granted parole after undergoing surgery at a military hospital, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) announced earlier this month.

The 79-year-old was initially hospitalised in August for medical observation for an undisclosed illness.

The former president’s medical parole has since come under much scrutiny, as it was granted by National Commissioner of Correctional Services Arthur Fraser, who admitted during an interview with SABC that he had overridden the Medical Parole Advisory Board’s decision not to free Zuma from jail.

He was in prison for less than 60 days, and had been serving his prison sentence at the Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal.

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