PRETORIA, July 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former South African president Jacob Zuma on Wednesday night turned himself in to the police to start his 15-month jail time for contempt.
The Jacob Zuma Foundation confirmed the latest move in a social media post that read in part: “Dear South Africans and the World. Please be advised that President Zuma has decided to comply with the incarceration order.
“He is on his way to hand himself into a Correctional Services Facility in KZN. A full statement will be issued in due course.”
The country’s apex judicial body – the Constitutional Court – had slapped him with the fine after he refused to appear before a corruption enquiry headed by deputy Chief Justice Ray Zondo, it is probing corruption during his tenure.
Zuma has gotten a stay of execution of sorts as the court hears an appeal of his conviction.
But the five-day period for him to hand himself over to the police elapsed tonight and there were concerns as to whether he will hand himself over.
He had earlier this week told teeming supporters that he will not go to jail adding that under current COVID-19 context, it was not proper to jail someone his age.
About a month earlier, Mauritania’s former president Mohamed Ould Abdul Aziz was jailed also for refusing to cooperate with police in a corruption probe, he was under house arrest at the time the judgment was handed down.
Most presidents in Africa are shielded from prosecution by the constitution, some even after they have exited from office. — NNN-AGENCIES
