Zuma hands himself in to police

Jacob Zuma in the dock during his corruption trial in Pietermaritzburg in May. Photo: Reuters
Jacob Zuma in the dock during his corruption trial in Pietermaritzburg in May. Photo: Reuters

Former South African president Jacob Zuma has  handed himself in to serve a jail sentence for contempt of court.

 

The constitutional court gave Zuma a 15-month prison term last week for defying an instruction earlier this year to give evidence at an inquiry into corruption during his nine years in power until 2018.

"President Zuma has decided to comply with the incarceration order," his foundation confirmed on Wednesday, saying he had made his way to the correctional services facility in KwaZulu-Natal.

The 79-year-old had been given until the end of last Sunday to hand himself in. Police had been instructed to arrest him by the end of Wednesday if he failed to do so.

South African TV stations carried images of Zuma's motorcade leaving his house in the town of Nkandla, although none were able to confirm whether or not he was in it.

The BBC reported that he had handed himself in.

The authorities' response to Zuma's lack of cooperation with the inquiry - after years of allegations about corruption and sleaze - has been seen as a test of post-apartheid South Africa's ability to implement the rule of law.

Zuma denies there was widespread corruption under his leadership, and on Sunday struck a defiant note, comparing the judges who condemned him to the white minority apartheid rulers he once fought.