Jacob Zuma sentenced to jail for contempt of court

Jacob Zuma

South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma was on Tuesday sentenced to 15 months in prison by the apex court which found him guilty of contempt after he failed to appear before an inquiry probing wide-ranging allegations of corruption during his tenure.

Zuma, 79, is accused of enabling the plunder of state coffers during his nearly nine-year stay in office from 2009 to 2018.

Zuma was not in court for the ruling and has been given five days to hand himself in at a police station. If he fails to do that the police minister must order his arrest.

In a strongly worded majority judgment handed down on Tuesday morning by Justice Sisi Khampepe of the Constitutional Court, she described Zuma's statements as "outlandish" and "intolerable".

"The Constitutional Court can do nothing but conclude that Mr Zuma is guilty of the crime of contempt of court," judge Khampepe said.

The court also said that the sentence could not be suspended. The Commission of Enquiry, which is investigation allegations of corruption and bribery at state and parastatal institutions, had asked that Zuma be sent to prison for two years. Zuma has repeatedly said he would rather go to jail than cooperate with the Commission.

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