Zuma lawyers try to overturn decision to send him back to jail

Lawyers representing former South African President, Jacob Zuma, asked the court on Monday to overturn a decision to send him back behind bars.

Former South African President Jacob Zuma removes his eyeglasses as he addresses the media in his home in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal on July 4, 2021. – South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma, ordered to surrender himself to start a 15-month jail term for contempt, said on July 4, 2021, he would not be doing so by the court-set deadline. “No need for me to go to jail today,” he told journalists at his Nkandla homestead in Kwa-Zulu Natal province, where hundreds of his supporters are camped outside in solidarity. 

Zuma was sentenced to prison last year but granted medical parole after just two months.

The 80-year-old was jailed in July 2021 after being sentenced to 15 months for contempt of court.

The former president repeatedly refused to testify before a commission of enquiry into the rampant corruption under his presidency (ed. 2009-2018).

In December, the court overturned Zuma’s parole, ruling that the head of the prison service who made the decision was not justified in doing so.

During his stay in prison, Mr Zuma was hospitalised for an undisclosed operation.

Violent protests and looting followed Jacob Zuma’s imprisonment in July 2021.

The violence affected the eastern province of KwaZulu-Natal before spreading to Johannesburg, killing more than 350 people and damaging the country’s economy.