ANC doesn't want to see Zuma behind bars, says Mbalula

Mbulala was commenting on the Constitutional Court's dismissal of Department of Correctional Services' application for leave to appeal a ruling on Zuma's medical parole, paving the way for his possible return to jail.

The apex court found that his release on medical parole by former Correctional Services boss Arthur Fraser was illegal.

Zuma, 80, had been handed a 15-month term in June 2021 for contempt of court, a move that triggered deadly unrest.

But he served only two months before being given parole for medical reasons that remain unclear.

Parole was granted by the head of South Africa's prison service, despite an opinion by the service's medical committee that Zuma did not meet the required conditions.

In 2022, the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled that the parole was "unlawful", and that Zuma had not finished serving his sentence and must return to jail.

On Thursday, the Department of Correctional Services said it was studying the Constitutional Court judgment. 

Addressing the media on Sunday, Mbalula said the party respected the rule of law.

He was responding to remarks by EFF leader Julius Malema on Friday, calling on President Cyril Ramaphosa to give Zuma a presidential pardon order to avoid a repeat of the July 2021 riots.

"The moral perspective to this is that we empathise with President Zuma. No one wants anyone at the age of 80 going to jail, but in this instance the law is the law. We have heard voodoo lawyers here interpreting the judgment their own way say it doesn’t mean that Zuma has to go to jail and others say he must.

"Government needs to look at all of those things [including] what is in the best interest of the country and what is the correct interpretation of the law. The ANC does not go around making out of turn remarks about judgments. We focus on the law and in this instance that’s what we are looking at."

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