South Africa’s apex court has told former President Jacob Zuma should be jailed for defying an order to appear before an inquiry probing wide-ranging allegations of corruption during his tenure from 2009 to 2018. He has been convicted of contempt of court and sentenced to 15 months in prison
The sentence given after Zuma defying a court order to appear before an inquiry, AP reported.
Zuma was not in court for the ruling on Tuesday and has been ordered to hand himself over within five days to a police station in his hometown of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal province or in Johannesburg.
“The Constitutional Court holds that there can be no doubt that Mr. Zuma is in contempt of court. Mr. Zuma was served with the order and it is impossible to conclude anything other than that he was unequivocally aware of what it required of him,” said acting chief justice Sisi Khampepe.
This is the first time in the history of South Africa that a former president has been sentenced to prison.
