Abdul Basit, whose legs were paralysed after he contracted meningitis in prison, has been granted a stay of execution.

President Jacob Zuma has announced a special remission of sentence which could see more than 35 000 offenders released from prison.

The president should be held accountable for a six-year delay in pardon applications by 384 jailed IFP members, the Constitutional Court ruled.

Lawyers and friends of the freed men … said news of their release had come as a surprise.