President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved to distance himself from former President Jacob Zuma's medical parole.

Ramaphosa said he was only informed about it once the decision was made, notes a News24 report.

Ramaphosa said prisons boss Arthur Fraser made the decision to release Zuma in his capacity as the National Commissioner.

‘He took the decision as he did after receiving the report, and I got to hear (about it) once the decision was taken. He took the decision as he is entitled to ... as he is the commissioner.’

Last week, City Press reported that Ramaphosa gave the green light for Zuma to be released.

On Saturday, AfriForum revealed that the government was not opposing a two-part High Court application to have Zuma's medical parole set aside.

AfriForum's Willie Spies said respondents in the application – Ramaphosa, Justice Minister Ronald Lamola and the Medical Parole Advisory Board – indicated they would abide by the court's decision.

‘This is an interesting development because there has been speculation that Arthur Fraser took the parole decision in consultation with Ramaphosa. The board, Ramaphosa and the Minister will not be opposing the application. We received this news yesterday (Friday).’

Full News24 report

Voices continue to be heard about the lack of transparency around Zuma’s release.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Defend our Democracy campaign’s Sheila Sisulu said that while all prisoners are entitled to compassionate treatment if they are ill, the lack of transparency around the former President’s release is worrying.

‘We do not know on what basis the National Commissioner of Correctional Services took the decision to release the former President on medical parole. The Medical Parole Advisory Board reportedly did not recommend that the former President be released, as he was in a “stable condition”, but Arthur Fraser used his powers in terms of the Correctional Services Act. We should be concerned about the precedent being set when a board is put in place to make an objective assessment, and this view is then reportedly overruled. While Fraser can argue about it being within his rights to make the decision as Commissioner of Correctional Services, we should be relooking at what checks and balances are in place to prevent what may be the abuse of power,’ Sisulu said.

‘The question is, despite the commissioner being entitled to grant medical parole, is there really equality before the law when other prisoners may not necessarily enjoy the same treatment as the former President in having his application swiftly approved, despite reports of a different recommendation by the Medical Parole Advisory Board?’