SA court agrees to hear Zuma’s challenge to jail term

Supporters of former South African President Jacob Zuma, who was sentenced to a 15-month imprisonment by the Constitutional Court, sing and dance in front of his home in Nkandla, yesterday.

A South African court yesterday agreed to hear ex-president Jacob Zuma’s challenge to a 15-month jail term for failing to attend a corruption hearing, as hundreds of his supporters gathered outside his home in a show of force.The constitutional court had on Tuesday given Zuma 15 months in jail for absconding in February from the inquiry led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.Zuma had until the end of today to hand himself in, but yesterday the court agreed to hear his application, suspending the order.The South African Broadcasting Corp (SABC) reported that the court will hear his application on July 12.The jail sentence was seen as sign of just how far Zuma, once revered as a veteran of the struggle against white minority rule, has fallen since embarking on a presidency beset by multiple sleaze and graft scandals between 2009 and 2018.His travails have divided the ruling African National Congress, which cancelled an executive committee meeting over the weekend in order to focus on the ensuing crisis.The ex-leader has applied to the court for the sentence to be annulled on the grounds that it is excessive and could expose him to Covid-19.“When somebody is saying please hear me out...and then we have court that says ‘OK, we are willing to listen to you’, that’s the kind of justice system people died for in this country,” the Jacob Zuma Foundation said in a statement.