SA opposition wants court to cancel Zuma's parole

Image caption: Jacob Zuma was given medical parole on Sunday

South Africa’s main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), has begun legal proceedings to try and get a court to set aside the decision to release former President Jacob Zuma on medical parole.

This comes after the national commissioner of correctional services, Arthur Fraser, admitted that he vetoed a decision by the independent medical parole board to deny the controversial ex-president's request.

The board had declined Zuma’s medical parole, saying that his health was stable enough for him to complete his prison sentence.

The Democratic Alliance wants access to the medical records that were used by correctional services to grant Zuma’s parole.

Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail by the Constitutional Court after being found in contempt of court for refusing to testify at a corruption enquiry.

The court has not yet set a date to hear the DA's case.

This article originally appeared on BBC Africa

Photo: Reuters