Former South African President Jacob Zuma surrendered to police on Wednesday, beginning a 15-month sentence for contempt of court, the end of a long legal saga considered as a litmus test of the post-apartheid state’s ability to uphold the rule of law.
In a statement, police spokesperson Lirandzu Themba confirmed that Zuma was in police custody, as ordered by the Constitutional Court.
Zuma was admitted to Estcourt Correctional Centre, about 175 kilometers (108 miles) from his rural house in Nkandla in eastern South Africa, according to a second statement from the Department of Correctional Services. His motorcade’s arrival at the facility was broadcast live on television.
Last Monday, a court sentenced Zuma to 15 months in prison for ignoring a February court order to testify at a corruption investigation during his nine years in power till 2018. Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo is in charge of the investigation.
If Zuma did not arrive at a police station by the end of Wednesday, authorities were to arrest him. Hundreds of his supporters had assembled at his homestead, some armed with firearms, spears, and shields, to try to prevent his capture.
But, in the end, Zuma, who is 79 years old, chose to die quietly.
“President Zuma has decided to comply with the incarceration order,” his foundation announced, marking the first time Zuma’s team had expressed any desire to work with the court.
A famous veteran of the African National Congress liberation movement was imprisoned by South Africa’s white minority government for his role in the struggle to make everyone equal before the law.
Zuma disputes that his administration was marred by rampant corruption, and he sounded combative on Sunday, striking out at judges and pursuing legal challenges to his detention.
On Wednesday, his attorneys urged the Constitutional Court to halt the police’s order to arrest him by midnight awaiting the outcome of his appeal against a prison sentence.
In 2018, Zuma succumbed to pressure and resigned, handing over power to now-President Cyril Ramaphosa. Since then, he has been the subject of investigations into charges of corruption stretching back to his time as president and prior.
The Zondo Commission is looking into claims that he permitted three Indian-born businessmen, Atul, Ajay, and Rajesh Gupta, to loot public resources and wield political power. He denies any wrongdoing, as do the Gupta brothers, who fled to Dubai when Zuma was deposed.
Zuma is also embroiled in a separate legal battle over a $2 billion armaments contract struck when he was vice president in 1999. He disputes the allegations. Former President Jimmy Carter claims he is the target of a political witch hunt and that Zondo is biased against him.
