Former South Africa president Jacob Zuma released from jail

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma will no longer complete his prison time after spending only two months of his 15-month sentence.

The remission was approved by President Cyril Ramaphosa on Friday.

Mr Zuma is among almost 10,000 prisoners who were granted amnesty by the South Africa’s Correctional Services Department for several reasons including the overcrowding situation of prisons.

The national commissioner of correctional services, Samuel Thobakgale, announced on Friday that Mr Zuma has been released on “remission.”

The former president is said to have handed himself over on Friday morning and underwent administrative processes in fulfilment of a court ruling and was released barely an hour later.

“In compliance with the SCA Judgment, Zuma did report back at Estcourt Correctional Centre. A consideration has been made as per legislation, including processes that were already unfolding in the management of correctional services. The administrative procedures have ensued and Mr Zuma has been processed accordingly,” Mr Thobakgale said.

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Mr Zuma, 81, was jailed in July 2021 for defying a court order to appear at an inquiry into corruption. He has denied the corruption allegations against him and has cast himself as the victim of a politically motivated witch-hunt by a faction in the ANC.

The former president retains a loyal following in his KwaZulu-Natal province and within the ruling ANC party. His imprisonment in 2021 triggered violent protests that resulted in the death of over 350 people, destruction of properties worth billions of dollars. There were fears that if he were sent back to jail there could be more rioting.

Mr Zuma was released on appeal on medical grounds two months after being committed to jail, but a court judgment upheld by the constitutional court found that decision unlawful.

Opposition party Democratic Alliance said it was planning a legal challenge against the amnesty.

Under South African laws, remission of sentence is when the president applies the powers vested in him by the constitution and the Correctional Services Act to grant an amnesty effectively reducing jail time and fast-tracking the dates upon which an inmate will be placed on parole.