The Jacob Zuma Foundation has criticised the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) ruling that the former president must go back to jail.

The SCA on Monday dismissed with costs Zuma’s appeal against the setting aside of his medical parole by the Pretoria high court.

The court ruled the decision to grant Zuma medical parole last year against the advice of the specialist Medical Parole Advisory Board was unlawful.

Zuma was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment after he ignored instructions to participate in an inquiry into corruption.

In a statement, the foundation's spokesperson, Mzwanele Manyi, said the ruling was an act of injustice.

“It is nothing but an exercise in cruelty and degrading punishment,” he said.

He said the parole was granted by the correctional services department and not Zuma but he was the one being punished for both the application and the decision.

Former correctional services national commissioner Arthur Fraser granted Zuma medical parole based on the diagnosis of three independent medical experts.

Manyi said Zuma holds no particularly strong views on whether the applying doctor or the granting official acted lawfully or exceeded their powers.

“For the second time in so many years, the courts have convicted [former] president Zuma and sentenced him to imprisonment without the benefit of a criminal trial which is afforded to even the worst criminals,” said Manyi.

He said the judgment against Zuma is a “textbook case of judicial overreach”.

“To impose further imprisonment after the expiry of a jail term is totally unheard of and it is indeed a textbook case of judicial overreach once again targeted at [former] president Zuma as an individual.

“It would be outrageous and unacceptable in the case of any citizen of any democratic country. If all are indeed equal before the law, then it must be equally unacceptable even if that citizen happens to carry the name Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. That is the essence of the equality clause in our constitution.”

Manyi said the former president has consulted his legal team to study the judgment.

“In view of this total injustice and outrage, [former] president Zuma has instructed his legal team to craft an opinion to advise him of his legal options within the next few weeks.

“There is no new crisis, and we should all leave the matter in the hands of the law and our democratic institutions,” he said.