Former South African President Jacob Zuma gets 15 months jail term for contempt of court

Former President Jacob Zuma has been found guilty of contempt of court and has been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment in the Constitutional Court on Tuesday morning.

.This is after the Chairperson of the State Capture Commission, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, had requested that the apex court declare Zuma in contempt of court.

Zondo also wanted Zuma sentenced to two years in prison for defying summonses to testify before the Commission.

In handing down judgment, Acting Chief Justice Sisi Khampepe said:

“To Mr Zuma specifically, his contempt is rebukable in the strongest sense. In determining the length of the sentence, the majority has considered the unique circumstances of this matter, the nature of the breach and the extent to which the breach is on-going.”

“Not only has Zuma failed to dispute the contempt of court, he has also failed to contest the degree of the contempt. Instead, he has aggravated it. The majority judgment orders an unsuspended sentence of imprisonment for a period of 15 months.”

By this judgement, former President Jacob Zuma will have to hand himself over to the nearest police station within the next five days to begin his 15 months jail term.

Meanwhile, Former President Jacob Zuma’s Spokesperson, Mzwanele Manyi, says the Constitutional Court did not treat Zuma as it would any other citizen.

He was reacting to the 15-month jail sentence South Africa’s Apex Court handed down to the former President on Tuesday morning.

 “President Zuma was not treated equally like the constitution has promised everyone. Zuma is the only person in SA whose right to appeal has been taken away just like that. It is the first time where you go straight from a motion court and skip trial and incarcerate a person. So, we have someone who has been incarcerated without a fair trial. It is very tragic day in SA today,” Manyi says. (SABC News).