JOHANNESBURG South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma appeared at the Estcourt correctional facility on Friday morning and was released under a remission process, a senior prisons official said.

The announcement comes after the constitutional court last month rejected an attempt to overturn a decision by a lower court that found Zuma's release on medical parole was unlawful and that he should return to prison to finish his sentence.

Zuma's initial arrest two years ago led to violent protests across South Africa that saw over 300 people killed.

Zuma, 81, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for defying a court order to participate in a corruption inquiry into high-level corruption during his nine-year tenure as president.

He handed himself over to authorities in July 2021 but was released on medical parole due to ill health two months later. He denies corruption allegations.

(Reporting by Carien du Plessis; Additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya; Editing by Alexander Winning)