As of: July 8th, 2021 3:25 am
South Africa’s ex-president Zuma has started his 15-month prison sentence. Shortly before a deadline expired, the 79-year-old presented himself to the authorities who had convicted him of disregarding the judiciary in the course of corruption investigations.
South African ex-president Jacob Zuma, who has been sentenced to a prison term, has started his 15-month prison sentence. The 79-year-old presented himself to the authorities late in the evening shortly before a deadline, as his foundation announced.
Zuma decided to follow the instructions of the judiciary and to go to a prison in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal. At the end of June, the ex-president was sentenced to 15 months in prison by the Constitutional Court for disregarding the judiciary. In spite of court summons, Zuma had repeatedly stayed away from the hearings of an anti-corruption commission investigating corruption allegations from his nine-year term in office.
Judgment should be checked again
According to the verdict, Zuma should actually start his prison sentence on Sunday. The ex-president refused, however, and said on Sunday that he did not consider it necessary “that I go to jail today”.
If he had not gone to prison by midnight on Wednesday, he would have been threatened with arrest by the police. Since Zuma cannot appeal the judgment, the ex-president applied for the court decision to be annulled on Friday. On Saturday, the court ruled to reconsider the verdict in a July 12 hearing.