“We inform you that President Zuma has decided to comply with the arrest order. He is on his way to the KwaZulu-Natal Correctional Prison, ”the Jacob Zuma Foundation reported on social media, quoted by the South African press.
Jacob Zuma surrendered to authorities a few minutes before midnight local time (23:00 GMT), the deadline for his arrest set by the Constitutional Court, and was accompanied by the presidential protection service.
Police Department spokesman Lirandzu Temba confirmed that Jacob Zuma turned himself in to law enforcement tonight.
According to the Jacob Zuma Foundation, the former head of state a few hours earlier sent a letter to the country’s highest court requesting a ban on the execution of the detention order pending the results of all court proceedings.
This is the first time in South African history that a former president has been sentenced to prison.
On June 29, the South African Constitutional Court sentenced former President Jacob Zuma to 15 months in prison for contempt of court for repeatedly refusing to obey a quote requiring him to testify in a corruption investigation.
According to the decree, the former head of state of South Africa had to surrender to the police within five days.
Zuma was found guilty of disobeying a court order to appear before a commission of inquiry into allegations of serious corruption in the South African state during his presidential term from 2009 to 2018.
According to local press reports, South African police have dispatched more than 70 vehicles, including a special anti-riot unit, to the former South African president’s official residence in the Nkandla countryside, in the coastal province of KwaZulu-Natal.
Among the funds allocated to the police are armored vehicles and water cannons.
Zuma’s supporters remained outside after 10:00 p.m. local time, in violation of the country’s current anti-covid-19 level of detention of 4, curfews.
Since the weekend, hundreds of Zuma supporters have gathered outside Zuma’s official residence in the Nkandla countryside, KwaZulu-Natal, to prevent any police attempts to arrest the former South African head of state.
