Former president Jacob Zuma is currently in Russia for “health reasons”, and will only be returning to South Africa once his doctors finish their treatment, his foundation said on Friday.

This comes as the Constitutional Court on Thursday dismissed the National Commissioner of Correctional Services’ application for leave to appeal against a Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling that Zuma should return to prison, after his “invalid” release on medical parole.

Read more in Daily Maverick: Zuma’s days of freedom may be numbered as ConCourt upholds ruling that he must go back to jail

Zuma travelled to Russia last week for “health reasons”, and “will be returning to the country once his doctors have completed their treatment”, the Jacob Zuma Foundation said. 

In response to questions from Daily Maverick about his date of departure, foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi said the “nitty gritty” of date and time is “irrelevant.”

The former president’s trip to the Kremlin was private, however “it was not a secret as incorrectly suggested”, the foundation said. 

“President Zuma and his team travelled on a commercial flight full of passengers… The Foundation wishes its patron good health and a safe return home whenever the doctors release him.”

H.E. President Zuma is in Russia for health reasons. pic.twitter.com/e21x5dOTod

— JGZuma Foundation (Official) (@JGZ_Foundation) July 14, 2023

For years Zuma has used Stalingrad tactics and his ill-health and undisclosed medical condition to delay court proceedings and to avoid facing criminal prosecutions in the Arms Deal corruption case. He has previously been reluctant to undergo an examination by a doctor chosen by the State, claiming mistrust of how his health has been addressed in court and at the Zondo Commission.

Read more in Daily Maverick: No way to witness the sickness: The mystery of Jacob Zuma’s health

He was jailed on 8 July 2021, for contempt of a Constitutional Court order that he appear before the Zondo Commission. He was sentenced to 15 months’ directed imprisonment by the apex court, but was unlawfully released on medical parole hardly two months later. 

On Thursday, the Constitutional Court rejected an application by the National Commissioner of Correctional Services for leave to appeal against the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling that Zuma should return to prison, saying an appeal had “no reasonable prospects of success”. 

Correctional Services had approached the Constitutional Court after the former president lost an appeal in the SCA in November 2022, in his bid to not be forced back to jail. 

Thursday’s ruling means the SCA’s findings hold true. 

“Once the order in this appeal is handed down, Mr Zuma’s position as it was prior to his release on medical parole will be reinstated. In other words, Mr Zuma, in law, has not finished serving his sentence. He must return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre to do so,” read a passage from the November judgment.

The timing of the Constitutional Court ruling comes nearly two years to the week since the original ruling ordered that Zuma be jailed for defying the Zondo Commission. His imprisonment precipitated the days of violence and looting in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. 

A series of recent truck burnings in the country has ignited fears that unrest of this nature could be brewing. However, according to Police Minister Bheki Cele, there is currently no evidence to suggest that the truck attacks are linked to Zuma supporters, or connected with the unrest of July 2021. On Friday, it was reported that the South African National Defence Force members have been deployed in several provinces in response to the spate of truck torchings. 

‘Detention without delay’

Following the Constitutional Court ruling on Thursday, the DA has called for the former president’s “detention without delay”. 

“Mr Zuma must now pay the consequences for his flagrant disregard for the rule of law. This judgment must now also serve as an important legal precedent ensuring that any and all ANC members and public representatives implicated in state capture cannot ever abuse the medical parole process to evade accountability,” DA leader John Steenhuisen said in a statement on Thursday evening. 

The party threatened legal action if Zuma fails to surrender himself to authorities.   

ActionSA leader Herman Mashaba has said Zuma “should not try and avoid accountability” by fleeing South Africa to seek medical attention in Russia.  

“It is extremely suspicious that a day after the Constitutional Court ruled that President Zuma should return to the Estcourt Correctional Centre to complete his prison sentence, it emerged that he fled to Russia to seek medical attention,” he said.

This is a developing story and will be updated. DM