Jacob Zuma will only return to South Africa once Russian doctors clear him

By Sihle Mavuso | IOL News |

The Jacob Zuma Foundation has confirmed that former president Jacob Zuma travelled to the Russian Federation last week “for health reasons.”

In a statement on Friday, it said he would only return to the country “once his doctors have completed their treatment.”

“The JGZ Foundation has noted the media reports and speculations about the recent trip of our patron to the Republic of Russia.

“The foundation confirms that H.E President Zuma travelled to Russia last week for health reasons, and he will be returning to the country once his doctors have completed their treatment,” the foundation said.

The foundation said Zuma travelled on a commercial flight and not in secret, as suggested in some quarters.

“Although the trip was private, it was not a secret as incorrectly suggested.

“H.E 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,” the foundation added.

The confirmation comes as the DA, one of the parties that challenged his September 2021 release on medical parole, says he must immediately return to his Estcourt prison cell to finish his sentence.

The call came after the Constitutional Court dismissed an application by the Department of Correctional Services, which wanted to appeal the ruling that effectively sent Zuma back to prison to finish his sentence.

His jailing sparked the July 2021 unrest that saw KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng businesses looted and burned, and over 350 people killed.

In a ruling on Thursday afternoon, the highest court in the land dismissed the main application by the department.

It also dismissed the application to intervene, which was made by Zuma’s legal team.

It said both had no prospects of success, effectively sending Zuma back to jail without giving time-lines for when that should happen.