The day after a court decision reaffirming that he should be in prison, former South African President Jacob Zuma, deposed in 2018 for corruption and prosecuted in several cases, is currently in Moscow for medical treatment, its spokesperson said Friday, July 14. Zuma, 81, “visited Russia last week for health reasons and will return to the country when his doctors complete his treatment,” Mzwanele Manyi said in a statement.
This trip, aboard a commercial flight, “is private, but not secret”, defends the spokesperson, reacting to leaks that appeared in the local press on this trip by Mr. Zuma, who was still on the 7 July in Zimbabwe, where he represented a group from Belarus at a conference on carbon credits.
South Africa’s highest court on Thursday confirmed that Mr Zuma should return to prison to finish serving a 15-month sentence for contempt, rejecting an appeal asking that he be spared. This decision should not have immediate effect: the prison services have said that they will study this judgment and seek legal advice before commenting on this case.
On medical parole
Zuma was sentenced in June 2021 for stubbornly refusing to answer a commission investigating corruption during his presidency (2009-2018). His incarceration a few days later sparked several days of riots, killing more than 350 people. He had been released on parole after two months for medical reasons, without further details as to his state of health.
When he was president, the head of state already had close ties with Moscow. More generally, relations between South Africa and Russia date back to the apartheid era, with the Kremlin supporting the political formation of the African National Congress (ANC) in the fight against the racist regime.
A feared ANC intelligence chief in exile, Jacob Zuma, whose middle name, Gedleyihlekisa, means “he who laughs while crushing his enemies” in Zulu, had spent ten years at Robben Island Penitentiary alongside Nelson Mandela. .