Former president Jacob Zuma has been in prison since the wee hours of Thursday and for the first time, an update has surfaced on his condition and possible release date.
Here are the latest updates
From what we understand, Zuma was processed as a convicted offender at the Estcourt Correctional Services Centre where he is expected to spend 15 months in confinement.
Justice Minister Ronald Lamola noted in a statement published on Thursday that the former president was in high spirits and wanted his supporters to know that he was doing alright.
According to Lamola, Zuma is being held at a Medium B Facility that houses a mixture of youth and adult offenders. The prison has the capacity to bed 512 inmates, and it also includes a hospital section.
As part of ongoing COVID-19 protocols, the former president will have to spend 14 days in isolation and based on the outcomes of an assessment conducted by the prison’s medical team, “this will determine the conditions of his incarceration.”
“A complete profile report will then be submitted with recommendations to the Case Management Committee. This process will assist to determine the appropriate classification of the former president,” Lamola noted.
Jacob Zuma release date revealed
If everything goes his way, Zuma could be out of prison as early as Friday. That, however, is contingent on the outcome of his Pietermaritzburg High Court challenge, the ruling of which will be announced in less than 24 hours.
The likelihood of a high court overturning a Constitutional Court judgment is slim-to-none but Zuma still has another opportunity to have his arrest order lifted.
Next week, the apex court will hold a session where Zuma’s rescission application will be reviewed. If the court determines that the contempt punishment was harsh, the former president may be freed.
However, if these last-ditch options are exhausted, unsuccessfully, then Zuma will have to spend at least a quarter of his 15-month prison term behind bars, Lamola confirmed.
“An offender serving a determinate or cumulative sentence of not more than 24 months, may not be placed on parole or day parole until such offender has served either the stipulated non-parole period, or if no non-parole period is stipulated a quarter of the sentence,” he explained.
If this is, indeed, the case, then Zuma should be eligible for release between October and November 2021, in exactly 3.75 months.