Last year, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that Arthur Fraser had acted illegally in granting Zuma parole despite the Parole Advisory Board recommending against it.
FILE: Former president Jacob Zuma at the Pietermaritzburg High Court where he appeared on corruption charges October 15, 2019. Photo: AFP.
JOHANNESBURG – Former president Jacob Zuma and former prison warden Arthur Fraser had their leave to appeal against Zuma’s parole decision dismissed with costs on Monday.
Zuma and the office of the National Correctional Service Commissioner will share the costs of AfriForum as well as the Democratic Alliance, including legal fees.
In December last year, the High Court in Pretoria ruled that Fraser had acted illegally by granting Zuma parole despite the Medical Parole Advisory Board recommending against it. This happened on the basis of cases initiated by various organizations.
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In June last year, the Constitutional Court found Zuma in contempt of a previous order it issued, ordering him to appear before the State Commission of Inquiry into the capture for questioning. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison.
But two months after he arrived at the prison to begin serving his sentence, the Department of Correctional Services announced he had been granted parole. This was in accordance with section 75(7)(a) of the Correctional Services Act, which provides that “the National Commissioner may place under correctional supervision or parole, or grant parole or parole on health grounds, a prisoner who is serving a sentence of imprisonment for 24 months or less.”
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The Department of Corrections provided Eyewitness news with figures showing the Parole Advisory Board made 100 anti-parole recommendations during Fraser’s tenure. But Zuma was the only time Fraser used what he claimed was his discretion to grant medical parole despite a thumbs down from the board.
Fraser’s appointment as Correctional Services Commissioner was controversial.
He was removed as director general of the National Security Agency while he was under investigation for his involvement in the “Principal Agent Network” (PAN) program, for which the State Capture Commission recommended that Frazier be prosecuted.
Prosecutors contested his appointment at the time.
“And when the DA challenged his appointment, Mr Ramaphosa defended him. From our point of view, this is probably the best example of how destructive the ANC’s recruitment policy is to the country.”
Last month, the Cabinet presented the National Framework for the Professionalization of the Public Sector – – which moves away from staffing.
It was part of his response to the Probe report — — and amid mounting pressure from the DA, including in the form of a lawsuit he launched.
