The South African Department of Correctional Services (DSC) on Sunday confirmed that former president Jacob Zuma underwent medical surgery on Saturday at a hospital outside the Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Nat province and will stay in hospital for a few more days for further procedures, reported Africa News.
“Mr. Zuma underwent a surgical procedure on Saturday, 14 August 2021, with other procedures scheduled for the coming days,” the department said in a statement on Sunday.
It did not provide a discharge date as it said that the department’s priority was to provide the best care possible to Zuma.
The department asked people not to speculate on Zuma’s health and give medical practitioners ample space to continue providing quality healthcare to him.
“As inmates are placed in correctional centers involuntarily, the state has a total and inescapable responsibility and duty to care for them in a manner that does not violate or compromise their constitutional rights, with access to healthcare,” the statement read.
Earlier this month, Zuma was admitted to the hospital for medical observation for an undisclosed condition, and he has remained there since then.
The former South African president is currently serving 15 months jail term for contempt of the Constitutional Court ruling that he present himself before the state capture inquiry.
He is facing a total of 18 charges, including corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion linked to a $2.5bn arms deal in the late 1990s.
Zuma has denied any wrongdoing. He claims that he is being made a victim of a politically motivated scandal.
Last week, Zuma’s long-running corruption trial was postponed to next month pending a medical report declaring his fitness for trial.
His imprisonment resulted in protests that turned into riots and looting in which at least 354 people lost their lives and more than R20 billion (USD 1.36 billion) in property was destroyed.
