‘We don’t want Zuma to go to prison’

The African National Congress (ANC) Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula says the idea of the party’s former president Jacob Zuma going to prison doesn’t sit well with them, contrary to what some may think.

Mbalula made those remarks at the ANCYL Gauteng fundraising business breakfast in Johannesburg on Saturday, 15 July 2023.

The Constitutional Court dismissed a bid by Correctional Services to overturn a previous judgement handed down by the Sureme Court of Appeal. In December 2021, the High Court in Pretoria reviewed and set aside former prisons boss Arthur Fraser’s decision to release Zuma on medical parole. The matter was then taken up with the SCA, but that application was dismissed.

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MBALULA SPEAKS ON ZUMA

Former president Jacob Zuma was at some stage at loggerheads with the former ANC top six, but he is known to be allied with some members of the current leadership. Fikile Mbalula has never been one to mince his words and has sometimes ruffled some feathers with anti-Zuma sentiments.

But he struck a different tone recently, saying Zuma is their veteran and they wouldn’t want to see him behind bars.

“Nobody wants Zuma to go to prison. We don’t want that. We don’t want an 81-year-old having to deal with prison … That’s what we spoke of at conference,” Mbalula said.

MSHOLOZI IN RUSSIA

The Jacob Zuma Foundation said the patron is currently receiving medical treatment in Russia.

“Zuma travelled to Russia last week for health reasons,” the 81-year-old’s spokesman Mzwanele Manyi said in a statement.

Manyi added that the trip “was private, it was not a secret,” after the information was published by local media.