South Africas highest court found former President Jacob Zuma guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to 15 months in prison yesterday, a landmark move in the countrys long-running corruption saga.
The Constitutional Court of South Africa ordered that Zuma present himself at a police station in his home town of Nkandla or Johannesburg within five days.
In the scathing judgment, Justice Sisi Khampepe, ruled, There can be no doubt that Mr Zuma is in contempt of court.
The order stems from Zumas refusal to appear at an anti-corruption commission to answer questions about his alleged involvement in corruption during his time as president. Zuma has repeatedly denied the allegations.
Judge Khampepe said that Zuma, who served as South Africas president from 2009 to 2018, attempted to corrode the legitimacy of the Constitutional Court by conducting a politically motivated smear campaign against it, the commission and the judiciary.
No person is above the law whatever his rank or condition, she said, continuing: An act of defiance in respect of a direct judicial order has the potential to precipitate a constitutional crisis.
If with impunity litigants are allowed to decide which orders they wish to obey, and which they wish to ignore, then our Constitution is not worth the paper on which it is written.
The corruption inquiry was set up by Zuma himself, under pressure over mounting scandals, shortly before he was ousted in 2018 by the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
But he testified only once, in July 2019, before staging a walkout days later. He ignored several invitations to reappear, citing medical reasons and preparations for another corruption trial. He presented himself again briefly in November but left before questioning.
Most of the alleged corruption under investigation by the commission involves three brothers from a wealthy Indian business family, the Guptas, who won lucrative government contracts and were allegedly even able to choose cabinet ministers.
The former leader is separately facing 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering relating to the 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and military gear from five European arms firms for 30bn rand, then the equivalent of nearly $5bn. At the time of the purchase, Zuma was president Thabo Mbekis deputy.