Former President said South Africa is becoming a “constitutional dictatorship”. Jacob Zuma, jailed for contempt, was speaking after the country’s highest court upheld his sentence.
“South Africa today is in the process of moving from a constitutional democracy to a constitutional dictatorship,” Zuma said this Monday (20.09), in his first statement since he was arrested in July and on the eve of the resumption of his corruption trial.
The Constitutional Court last week confirmed the arrest of former South African President Jacob Zuma on charges of “litigation fraud” and contempt of court.
Zuma, 79, had asked the court to overturn its decision to sentence him to 15 months in prison for refusing to answer questions as part of a corruption investigation.
Earlier this month, the former president was placed on medical parole for eight weeks after being hospitalised on 6 August. Jacob Zuma remains in a military hospital following an undisclosed medical procedure.
Trial resumes
Zuma’s statement came on the eve of the resumption of another case in which he is charged in court, which has to do with corruption charges from when he was vice president.
Jacob Zuma is accused of having received bribes from French giant Thales for arms purchases in 1999.
“I will continue to fight,” promised the former head of state, who urged his supporters “to remain resolute and firm in the belief that this is not the end”.
“I wear the badge of being a political prisoner with the greatest pride because the fight for the freedom of Africans against all forms of oppression, including the oppression of Africans by other African collaborators, has been my only mission in life,” said Zuma, who was president from 2009 to 2018 and still maintains pockets of support within the ruling African National Congress.
His arrest in July sparked the worst outbreak of political violence since the end of apartheid. Violent protests by his supporters deteriorated into widespread looting.
