Former South African President, Jacob Zuma heads to prison

Former South Africa President, Jacob Zuma on Wednesday handed himself over to the police to begin serving a 15-month sentence for contempt of court. 

He was admitted to Estcourt Correctional Centre in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal. 

The police had earlier threatened to enforce his arrest on Wednesday night if he doesn’t turn himself in following a historic ruling where the constitutional Court last week handed Zuma a 15-month term for snubbing anti-graft investigators.

His foundation however confirmed he had complied with the directive just minutes before it expired. 

“Please be advised that (ex) President Zuma has decided to comply with the incarceration order,” the foundation tweeted.

“He is on his way to hand himself into a Correctional Services Facility in KZN,” it said, just minutes before the deadline expired.

A convoy of cars believed to be carrying Zuma drove out of his homestead at high speed about 40 minutes before the cut-off time for him to give himself up.

Zuma, 79, was forced out of office in 2018 and replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa after a nine-year tenure stained by corruption scandals and the taint of cronyism.

Critics nicknamed him the “Teflon president” for his perceived ability to sidestep justice.

But his fortunes changed on June 29 when the court issued its damning judgement against him for contempt.

Zuma had refused to obey a court order to appear before a commission probing the siphoning off of state assets under his presidency.