South Africa’s Zuma handed 15-month jail term for inquiry no-show

The Constitutional Court ruling follows the ex-president’s failure to appear at a corruption probe earlier this year.

South Africa’s Constitutional Court sentenced former President Jacob Zuma to 15 months in jail for contempt of court following his failure to appear at a corruption inquiry earlier this year. Zuma did not appear at the inquiry led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo in February, after which the inquiry’s lawyers approached the court to seek an order for his imprisonment. “The Constitutional Court can do nothing but conclude that Mr Zuma is guilty of the crime of contempt of court,” judge Sisi Khampepe said on Tuesday.