Security forces in South Africa are on high alert following a High Court order for former president Jacob Zuma to be returned to jail after setting aside the decision that release him on medical parole.

The 79-year-old ex-president was released on medical parole in September while serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court, after he ignored instructions to participate in a corruption inquiry.

The legal processes against Zuma for alleged corruption during his nine-year reign are widely viewed as a test of post-apartheid South Africa’s ability to enforce rule of law, particularly against powerful, well-connected people.

Zuma handed himself in on July 7 to begin his prison sentence, triggering the worst violence South Africa had seen in years, as angry Zuma supporters took to the streets.

The protests led to widespread looting and an outpouring of general anger over the hardship and inequality that persist 27 years after the end of apartheid. More than 300 people were killed and thousands of businesses pillaged and razed.

A group of Jacob Zuma supporters in eThekwini say they are meeting to discuss a way forward following the ruling but are not mobilising yet.

Meanwhile, the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) said it will be appealing the judgment handed down by the Gauteng Division of the High Court, Pretoria, on the medical parole placement of Former President, Jacob Zuma