South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma starts serving jail term for contempt of court

Jacob Zuma, who served as South Africa’s President for almost a decade, turned himself into prison early Thursday to begin serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of the country's apex court. Prison authorities confirmed that Zuma “has been admitted to start serving a 15 months sentence at Estcourt Correctional Centre” in his native province of KwaZulu-Natal. Zuma’s imprisonment is significant as it marks the first time that any president has been awarded a jail sentence in post-apartheid South Africa.

According to the Associated Press, Zuma was found guilty of defying a court order to testify before a judicial commission investigating widespread allegations of corruption during his tenure as the country’s president, that is from 2009 to 2018. The court ordered him to voluntarily surrender to prison authorities by Wednesday or else the police would detain him forcefully.

However, the former leader refused and the impasse continued for a week. In a plea to avoid going to prison, Zuma’s lawyers wrote to the acting chief justice requesting that his arrest be suspended until Friday. Additionally, the 79-year-old also had two court proceedings to avoid arrest. However, just minutes before the deadline expired on Wednesday, his foundation tweeted that Zuma had “decided to comply with the incarceration order” and hand himself to a correctional facility.

Zuma filed an appeal 

Zuma called the sentence given by the court to be "cruel and degrading" and filed an appeal on Friday asking the court to withdraw its decision. He was being forced to send to prison without trial which could be a travesty to justice, said Jacob Zuma. Hundreds of Zuma’s staunchest supporters have gathered outside his home in KwaZulu-Natal province, vowing to resist any police attempts to take him into custody. 

The growing numbers of Zuma's supporters camped out at the entrance of his compound are in defiance of the country’s COVID-19 regulations which prohibit all gatherings except funerals. The hundreds at Zuma’s home are expected to increase over the weekend. Police have not enforced the regulations outside Zuma’s home raising concerns that it may become a swift event. But many other ANC supporters and ordinary South Africans have welcomed the ruling against Zuma, saying his arrest is necessary to tackle the country’s rampant corruption. Zuma said Friday that he will make an address about his pending imprisonment over the weekend.

Image: AP