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South Africa’s highest court has sentenced former president Jacob Zuma to 15 months in prison for contempt of court for allegedly defrauding him of a bribery charge.
“The only permit is to set up a direct, non-stop prison,” 15 months later, a court of law said on Tuesday.
This is the first time that a former South African president has been sentenced to life in prison since the end of apartheid. The case was a major test of the judges and questioning. Zuma “tried to ignore, insult and violate the law in any way,” the court said.
Zuma must report to the police within five days. If they fail to do so, the police must “do everything necessary” within three days to confirm that they have gone to jail, the court said.
The court said Zuma was contemptuous of the court and was responding to “a number of high-profile cases and [Zuma] to challenge its validity ”. It added: “The power of the courts is being tested. . . the court has never been threatened as before. ”
The former president has ignored a summons to appear before a corruption investigation committee and Raymond Zondo, South Africa’s deputy chief justice and chief of staff, has demanded his arrest for defamation.
A long-running investigation has been launched into allegations that Zuma assisted Gupta, a well-known business family, to secure government agreements and to establish policies, known as “state capture”. Guptas and Zuma deny any wrongdoing.
Zuma was forced to step down in 2018 due to corruption and his inquiry has been one of the strongest signs of cleansing under Zuma’s successor Cyril Ramaphosa – as well as his limits and powers. “His conduct is in line with his role as President,” said the Constitutional Court.
Zuma filed questions within weeks of leaving the law when ordered by a South African public defender, or government opponent. Since then, many witnesses have urged the former President to commit systematic corruption, including interfering with cabinet posts and agreements to support the Indian-born Indian family business.
Zuma appeared briefly before petitioning in 2019 to refrain from engaging in fraud and that his suitors were part of a “Western attempt to get me out of the area”.
But when he appeared again, he refused to answer the questions and went on his way and did not return to the place of witnessing.
The former president has refused to discuss with a court of law, refusing to respond when judges ask him what the sanctions would be if he was found guilty.
“It is not our law that I am insulting, but the few lawless judges who have relinquished their responsibilities for their own good,” Zuma said of Zondo and the judges in the Constitutional Court.
Zuma, a former prisoner of war on the infamous Robben Island prison and a senior ANC lawmaker during the anti-apartheid movement, has said he would rather be imprisoned than comply with a repatriation order.
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