South Africa’s ex-president Zuma jailed

  • South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma has been found guilty of contempt of court and sentenced to 15 months in prison for defying a court order to appear before an inquiry probing wide-ranging allegations of corruption during his tenure from 2009 to 2018.
  • This is the first time in South Africa’s history that a former president has been sentenced to prison. The country’s apex court, the Constitutional Court, ruled that Zuma defied an order by the country’s highest court by refusing to cooperate with the commission of inquiry, which is chaired by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo.
  • In 2009, he became democratic South Africa’s third president. In 2018, Zuma was forced out by the African National Congress (ANC) and replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa, a former trade union leader.