South African Ex-President Jacob Zuma on Sunday said sending him to jail amid the prevailing coronavirus disease pandemic at his age would be equivalent to a death sentence, reported Africa News. Zuma is currently facing a 15-month prison sentence for contempt of court.
Last week, the South African Constitutional Court sentenced Zuma to prison for defying a court order that he should testify before a commission investigating allegations of rampant corruption when he was president from 2009 to 2018.
He is accused of letting three Indian-born businessmen, Atul, Ajay, and Rajesh Gupta, plunder state resources and influence the government’s policies. He and the Gupta brothers deny any wrongdoing.
The court had set a deadline for Zuma to hand over himself to the authorities by Sunday midnight.
“Sending me to jail during the height of a pandemic at my age is the same as sentencing me to death. The death sentence was declared unconstitutional in South Africa in 1995,” the 79-year-old said while addressing a press briefing at his Nkandla homestead in Kwa-Zulu Natal province, where hundreds of his supporters are camped outside to prevent his arrest.
Suma told his supporters that he is appealing a 15-month prison sentence and lashed out at the judges who issued the ruling, comparing them with the white minority apartheid rulers he once fought.
“I’m very concerned that South Africa is fast sliding back to apartheid-type rule. I am facing long detention without trial,” Zuma told reporters on Sunday. “I have a duty and obligation to ensure that the dignity and respect for our judiciary are not compromised by sentences that remind our people of the apartheid days.”
On Saturday, the South African Constitutional Court agreed to hear Zuma’s application to rescind the judgment where the former president cited his age, health condition, and other unspecified reasons. The hearing will now take place on July 12.
