South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma jailed for 15 months

SOUTH AFRICA/NEWSDAY: South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma will spend 15 months in Prison after the Constitutional Court found him guilty of contempt for defying its order to appear at an inquiry into corruption.

He was sentenced in absentia and has been given five days to hand himself in to police, failure of which he will be arrested and taken to jail.

Mr Zuma’s presidency ended in 2018, dogged by graft allegations- that he conspired with businessmen to influence political decisions.

Acting Chief Justice Sisi Khampepe, delivering her ruling said Mr Zuma refused to come to the court to explain his actions.

“He instead elected to make provocative, unmeritorious and vituperative statements that constituted a calculated effort to impugn the integrity of the judiciary. 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.”Khampege ruled.

In a separate legal matter, Mr Zuma pleaded not guilty last month in his corruption trial involving a $5bn (£3bn) arms deal from the 1990s