Former South African president Jacob Zuma was rushed to hospital on Friday, less than a week before he is due in court for a separate graft trial. Zuma was sentenced for contempt of court last month.
In a statement, the Department of Correctional Services announced, “We can confirm that former President Jacob Zuma has been admitted to an outside hospital for medical observation today, 6 August 2021.”
Zuma, 79, is set to appear in court on August 10 for the resumption of a long-running corruption trial.
The hearing will feature a plea to dismiss 16 accusations of fraud, graft, and racketeering leveled against him in connection with the 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats, and other equipment from five European arms companies.
He is accused of accepting payments from one of the companies, Thales, a French defense conglomerate that has been accused of corruption and money laundering.
For more than a decade, the proceedings have been continually postponed, prompting suspicions of stalling tactics.
In a separate case, Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in prison in late June for ignoring a committee investigating state corruption during his presidency from 2009 to 2019.
On July 8, he began serving his term at Estcourt prison in the country’s east.
Zuma’s legal team had declined requests to testify for a variety of reasons, including perceived prejudice, graft trial preparations, and medical concerns.
No reason was given for the hospitalization on Friday, apart from that it was prompted by “a routine observation”.
Zuma has already been allowed to leave prison for 24 hours to attend his brother’s funeral last month.
His imprisonment sparked a spree of violence and looting in his home KwaZulu-Natal province and the financial capital Johannesburg.
*This article was written by Gerald Gekara for Uzalendo News. Email: uzalendonews@gmail.com to submit your story.
