Former South African President Jacob Zuma is currently seeking medical treatment in Russia, as confirmed by Mzwanele Manyi, spokesperson for the Jacob Zuma Foundation. This development comes just one day after the Constitutional Court ruling that ordered Zuma to return to prison and serve the remainder of his sentence.
Zuma, who is 81 years old, was handed a 15-month jail term in 2021 for defying a court order to testify in a corruption investigation related to his nine-year tenure as president, which ended in 2018.
In July 2021, Zuma surrendered himself to the authorities but was granted medical parole two months later. However, in 2022, the Supreme Court of Appeals declared the early medical parole “unlawful” and ordered him to return to jail to complete the remainder of his sentence for contempt of court.
The correctional services commissioner’s office appealed this decision to the Constitutional Court, but their application was rejected on July 13.
It’s worth noting that Zuma’s imprisonment in 2021 sparked widespread violence in two South African provinces, namely KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. The unrest resulted in extensive looting, vandalism of shopping malls, businesses, factories, and infrastructure. Over 1,000 individuals were arrested in connection with these incidents.
