PROSECUTORS and lawyers for South Africa’s jailed former president Jacob Zuma, who has been in hospital since Friday, have jointly asked a judge to postpone his scheduled appearance this week in a corruption trial, his foundation said on Monday.
“The NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) on behalf of all the parties sent a joint letter to Hon Judge Koen reflecting the parties’ agreement to postpone the hearing,” the Foundation said on Twitter.
The request had been made because the former president was in hospital, it added.
The 79-year-old is serving a 15-month sentence at Estcourt prison in KwaZulu-Natal province but was moved to a hospital on Friday for medical observation.
NPA spokesman Mthuzi Mahaga declined to comment on whether a postponement request had been made. Zuma’s lawyers did not respond to an email seeking comment.
“The matter involving former President Jacob Zuma and the Thales Group will resume in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on 10 August 2021,” the Office of the Chief Justice said in a statement.
Zuma is in prison for defying a Constitutional Court order to testify at a state-backed inquiry probing allegations of corruption during his presidential term from 2009 to 2018.
A routine checkup indicated that Zuma should be admitted to a hospital, according to the correctional services department’s statement.
Zuma’s jailing last month sparked violent riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, which quickly descended into widespread looting of shopping centers and the torching of trucks in KwaZulu-Natal. More than 330 people died in the rioting and more than R20 billion in property was destroyed.
Zuma has filed an application for his prison sentence to be rescinded by the Constitutional Court, and was earlier expected to appear in the Pietermaritzburg High Court tomorrow in a separate trial for corruption.
Zuma faces charges of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering over a $2 billion arms deal involving French company Thales (then known as Thomson-CSF).
Zuma and Thales both have pleaded not guilty.
Meanwhile, the Jacob Zuma Foundation posted a statement of “breaking news of international importance”, in which the Constitutional Court issued directives to Zuma’s legal teams.
According to the foundation, the Concourt is calling on parties to submit a 20-page document on how Zuma’s detention possibly affects International Law, as well as “the constitutional implications of his ongoing detention”.
The parties are directed to file written submissions on the implications and to consider the United Nations’ International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
These findings should be submitted before 13 August 2021.
The letter, dated 6 August 2021, was issued to Judge Raymond Zondo, as well as the minister of police, the minister of justice and correctional services, the Helen Suzman Foundation and the council for the advancement of the South African Constitution.
This story has been updated.
- Inside Politics. Additional reporting by Reuters.
