Former South African president Jacob Zuma on Saturday appeared to have won a reprieve from imminent imprisonment on contempt of court charges after the country’s most senior judges agreed to hear his challenge to a 15-month jail sentence awarded last week.
Police were ordered by the South African Constitutional Court to arrest the 79-year-old if he did not surrender to authorities by yesterday after he failed to appear before a corruption inquiry earlier this year.
Zuma was ousted as president amid multiple graft scandals in 2018 after nine years in power, and has consistently refused to cooperate with judges investigating wrongdoing during his rule.
In the past few days, the veteran politician has sought to rally political support, particularly in his stronghold province of KwaZulu-Natal, where he appeared briefly in public on Saturday, but his efforts to spark any broader protests at his impending arrest have so far failed.
A small crowd gathered outside Zuma’s homestead of Nkandla.
Supporters included about two dozen women who said they had traveled more than 300km overnight from the neighboring Eastern Cape Province.
“We support Zuma and we want to know what is going to happen with him, which is why we are here,” 43-year-old Cecilia Nongce said, wearing a blue-and-red traditional Nguni blanket to ward off the cold.
A group of other supporters arrived in two mini-buses waving African National Congress flags and wearing white T-shirts with prints saying: “Wenzeni uZuma,” Zulu for “What has Zuma done?”
Analysts in South Africa were surprised by the court’s decision to consider the former president’s challenge to its own decision.
“If Zuma goes to prison, we can say we have the rule of law in South Africa. If he doesn’t, then we don’t. There is no new evidence, so this means the system is being bent to fit the politics, and people everywhere will be very disappointed by that,” said Ralph Mathekga, an author and political commentator.
In its judgement last week, the court said that Zuma had repeatedly reiterated that he would rather be imprisoned than to cooperate with the corruption inquiry.
Zuma then submitted a 30-page statement, accusing judges of “exasperation” and suggesting that the court “reassess whether it has acted within the constitution.”
The statement also said that Zuma’s health would be at risk in prison because he would not be able to receive the care that he needs and might catch COVID-19.
Scores of witnesses have described what appears to have been widespread corruption and misadministration under Zuma’s rule, but he has testified only once, in July 2019, before staging a walkout days later.
He denies all wrongdoing.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday vowed that those behind bogus flood control projects would be arrested before Christmas, days after deadly back-to-back typhoons left swathes of the country underwater. Scores of construction firm owners, government officials and lawmakers — including Marcos’ cousin congressman — have been accused of pocketing funds for substandard or so-called “ghost” infrastructure projects. The Philippine Department of Finance has estimated the nation’s economy lost up to 118.5 billion pesos (US$2 billion) since 2023 due to corruption in flood control projects. Criminal cases against most of the people implicated are nearly complete, Marcos told reporters. “We don’t file cases for
Ecuadorans are today to vote on whether to allow the return of foreign military bases and the drafting of a new constitution that could give the country’s president more power. Voters are to decide on the presence of foreign military bases, which have been banned on Ecuadoran soil since 2008. A “yes” vote would likely bring the return of the US military to the Manta air base on the Pacific coast — once a hub for US anti-drug operations. Other questions concern ending public funding for political parties, reducing the number of lawmakers and creating an elected body that would
‘ATTACK ON CIVILIZATION’: The culture ministry released drawings of six missing statues representing the Roman goddess of Venus, the tallest of which was 40cm Investigators believe that the theft of several ancient statues dating back to the Roman era from Syria’s national museum was likely the work of an individual, not an organized gang, officials said on Wednesday. The National Museum of Damascus was closed after the heist was discovered early on Monday. The museum had reopened in January as the country recovers from a 14-year civil war and the fall of the 54-year al-Assad dynasty last year. On Wednesday, a security vehicle was parked outside the main gate of the museum in central Damascus while security guards stood nearby. People were not allowed in because
A feud has broken out between the top leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party on whether to maintain close ties with Russia. The AfD leader Alice Weidel this week slammed planned visits to Russia by some party lawmakers, while coleader Tino Chrupalla voiced a defense of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The unusual split comes at a time when mainstream politicians have accused the anti-immigration AfD of acting as stooges for the Kremlin and even spying for Russia. The row has also erupted in a year in which the AfD is flying high, often polling above the record 20 percent it
RSS