Zuma returns to court

Former President Jacob Zuma will be back in court this week.

On Tuesday, he will return to the Pietermaritzburg High Court in an attempt to remove lead prosecutor Billy Downer.

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WHAT DID DOWNER DO?

Zuma claims Downer illegally exposed his private medical records to the media.

Judge Piet Koen has previously recused himself from the long-delayed trial.

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Zuma returns to court barely days after being released from prison under a ‘special remission‘ granted by President Cyril Ramaphosa.

WHAT WAS ZUMA ACCUSED OF?

According to Correctional Services national commissioner Makgothi Thobakgale, he was let go in just over an hour as part of a “remission process” aiming to address overcrowding in prison.

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“Upon admission into the system, he was subjected to administrative processes… He was then released,” Thobakgale explained during a press conference in Pretoria.

For refusing to appear before the Zondo Commission, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court.

He was granted medical parole aftertwo months, but a court decision supported by the constitutional court ruled that decision to be illegal. The chief of South Africa’s prisons department was expected to announce his decision to return to prison this week. The remission on Friday appears to have rendered that decision moot.

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Zuma’s imprisonment in 2021 sparked violent riots that killed over 300 people, and there were fears that if he was released, there would be further unrest.

Over 300 people were killed during the country’s worst days of looting and burning since apartheid ended in 1994.

However, the upheaval was not solely political in nature. It was also fueled by persistent and deep disparities aggravated by the coronavirus outbreak, prompting the government to adopt new anti-poverty strategies.

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