Former President of South Africa Jacob Zuma turned himself over to the police as he prepares to begin a 15-month sentence for contempt of court.
Police Ministry Spokesperson Lirandzu Themba confirmed that Zuma was in the custody of the South African Police Service, after his foundation announced that he had decided to comply with an incarceration order issued by the Constitutional Court.
The former president was sentenced on June 19 to 15 months behind bars after failing to appear before a corruption inquiry established to investigate activities on when he served as president of South Africa between 2009 and 2018.
After Zuma refused to hand himself in as initially ordered by the South Africa’s highest court, his lawyers filed two bids to the courts to stall the execution of the arrest. His supporters gathered outside his Nkandla residence in KwaZulu-Natal to prevent police from accessing the former president.
“Please be advised that President Zuma has decided to comply with the incarceration order,” the foundation said on Twitter late on Wednesday night.
“He is on his way to hand himself into a Correctional Services Facility in KZN.”
The former president faces a litany of legal troubles, having also pleaded not guilty in a separate trial for corruption focused on arms deal in 1999 worth $2 billion when he was Vice President. He denied all allegations, claiming that he is a subject of a political witch hunt.
Recall that Zuma was ousted in 2018 following internal disagreements in the ruling African National Congress (ANC), against a backdrop of public outrage over alleged corruption and mismanagement of state resources.
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, or Zondo Commission, was established after an Ombudsman report called for an investigation into possible improper contact between senior members of Zuma’s former administration and the three Gupta brothers who denied any sort of wrongdoing.
The Guptas fled South Africa since Zuma was ousted.
