South Africa's Zuma sentenced to 15 months in prison for contempt of court
South Africa’s former president, Jacob Zuma, has been handed down a 15-month jail term by the country’s top court for defying an order to appear at a corruption inquiry hearing earlier this year.
The South African Constitutional Court issued the landmark ruling on Tuesday.
“I am left with no option but to commit Mr. Zuma to imprisonment, with the hope that doing so sends an unequivocal message… the rule of law and the administration of justice prevails,” Judge Sisi Khampepe said. “No person is above the law.”
Khampepe said Zuma had placed himself “in blatant violation” of the court order.
Zuma, 79, who served as president until 2018, was told to hand himself in within five days, otherwise, police will be ordered to arrest him and take him to jail.
The former president is accused of plundering state coffers during his nearly nine-year stay in office.
Zuma failed to appear at the hearing as part of graft investigations led by the deputy chief justice, Raymond Zondo. The former South African president has denied wrongdoing, and claims that Zondo has personal motives.
The investigation commission was set up by Zuma himself, under pressure over mounting scandals, shortly before the ruling African National Congress (ANC) forced him out in February 2018.
However, Zuma testified only once, in July 2019, and then ignored several invitations to reappear, including an order from the Constitutional Court in January, in some cases citing medical reasons and preparations for another corruption trial.
Prior to the Tuesday court ruling, Zuma said that he was being wronged by the country’s judiciary. According to the court judge, he has repeatedly reiterated that “he would rather be imprisoned than to cooperate with the commission or comply with the order made.”
Meanwhile, the former president is separately facing 16 charges of fraud, graft, and racketeering related to a 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats, and military gear worth $5 billion. He is accused of receiving bribes from Thales, a French defense and aerospace company. At the time of the purchase, Zuma was the deputy president of South Africa.
Zuma’s successor as president, Cyril Ramaphosa, an anti-apartheid activist, has taken steps to stamp out corruption in South Africa.
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