The former president, whose tenure was tainted by financial scandals, was a comrade of Nelson Mandela and a dominant figure for decades in the governing African National Congress party.

South Africa’s highest court on Tuesday ordered the imprisonment of Jacob Zuma, the former president of South Africa, for 15 months on contempt charges, after he defied an order to appear before a corruption inquiry examining the breathtaking financial scandals that tainted his tenure as the country’s leader from 2009 to 2018.

The move to detain Mr. Zuma, a comrade of Nelson Mandela and one of the dominant figures in the governing African National Congress party since apartheid ended in 1994, was a notable development in the legacy of corruption that shadowed his years in power. Mr. Zuma was not in court on Tuesday, and he was not immediately taken into custody.

The decision by the Constitutional Court to have Mr. Zuma arrested came five months after that same body ordered him to appear before the corruption inquiry, led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

But Mr. Zuma brazenly defied the court. Not only did he fail to show up to testify before the inquiry, but he also ignored the high court’s contempt proceedings, declining to so much as mount a defense.

The call to imprison Mr. Zuma for his defiance comes at a time when many fed-up South Africans seem to have coalesced behind the efforts of the current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, to root out corruption in the government and the A.N.C. party.

The looting of public enterprises by government officials has taken a heavy toll on the lives of ordinary citizens, felt in problems like the shoddy delivery of services, frequent power outages and water shortages. Frustrated South Africans are protesting on a frequent basis.

Mr. Zuma, 79, has in many ways become the most potent representation of government leadership gone astray.

In a bid to regain public confidence, the current president, Mr. Ramaphosa, has in recent months gone after some of his own party’s leading figures — including the health minister, in the middle of a pandemic, and the A.N.C. secretary-general, the third most powerful member of the party — who have been accused of corruption, forcing them to step aside from their roles within the A.N.C. while they face charges.

It was a decisive move that many South Africans have said was long overdue. But it also has caused a split within the party. Although Mr. Ramaphosa appears to have the support of a majority of the A.N.C., there remains a strong core of Zuma loyalists.

Tuesday’s decision was announced in a sparsely populated courtroom in Johannesburg, with attendance limited because of rising coronavirus infections in the country. Justice Sisi Khampepe sat on a curved dais before a backdrop of the South African flag and a red brick wall, methodically reading the court’s decision. She spent several minutes reviewing the history of the case before announcing Mr. Zuma’s fate.

Mr. Zuma himself began the corruption inquiry he has since shunned. Started in 2018, it came after a report detailing the extent of corruption in state-owned companies and government departments during his administration. In its far-reaching mandate, the commission has interrogated more than 250 witnesses.

Mr. Zuma is the first to refuse to testify. He has argued that he is not legally obliged to do so, saying Justice Zondo harbors a personal vendetta against him. The judge has dismissed the argument as baseless.

Beyond the commission’s inquiry, Mr. Zuma faces additional serious legal troubles related to corruption allegations.

He is being prosecuted on charges of racketeering, corruption, fraud and money laundering after being accused of taking bribes from a French arms manufacturer when he was deputy president in 1999. That trial was set to start earlier this year, but the case has been delayed repeatedly. Most recently, Mr. Zuma’s legal team has sought to get the lead prosecutor removed, alleging that he was biased. The case has been postponed until July.

While Mr. Zuma is a polarizing figure in South Africa, he retains considerable support, raising the risk of protests by sympathizers and supporters.

Mr. Ramaphosa, formerly Mr. Zuma’s deputy, won the A.N.C. leadership in 2017 after a bruising internal battle. Soon afterward, he forced Mr. Zuma to step down as president, a humiliating defeat that Mr. Zuma has not forgiven.

Mr. Ramaphosa’s vow to root out corruption and patronage within the A.N.C. has faced strong resistance from a rival faction within the party. The A.N.C. has dominated South African politics since the end of the apartheid era.

Mr. Zuma’s critics worried that his refusal to testify would severely undercut the corruption inquiry and further alienate South Africans weary of what they see as the impunity and lack of accountability for high-ranking A.N.C. politicians.

SOURCE

The government estimates more than 500 billion rand ($35 billion) was stolen from the state during Zuma’s rule, and at least 40 witnesses who’ve appeared before Zondo linked the ex-president to the looting spree. Zuma, who the ruling party forced to quit in 2018 to stem a loss of electoral support, has denied wrongdoing and says the allegations against him are part of a smear campaign.

[url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-29/zuma-is-jailed-for-shunning-south-african-corruption-inquiry?utm_content=africa&utm_medium=social&cmpid%3D=socialflow-twitter-africa&utm_source=twitter&utm_campaign=socialflow-organic] Bloomberg Africa [/url]

Wonderful

Corruption case hanging on his neck like gold necklace but the SA government are handling it in a very orderly manner by getting so many concentrate evidence against the social media Meme president.


Unlike Nigeria, they use it as a means to gun down political enemies and keep them in detention for years till they start digging out little evidence.


Someone should help me with that Jacob Zuma's meme putting his fingers together in a way to let us know that he and corruption are 5 & 6.

Hopefully the first 15 months of 50 years or more. He's got many other corruption charges still sitting in various courts.

Last pic is from Zuma's Daughter, Dudu.

That's a country with laws and actually implements and enforces the law.

Dude had it coming! But we all know it’s going to be like for him

Straight to 5 star prison

Damnnn niggar
Isoright

African leaders and financial recklessness

Corruption got Africa the bad state it is today. Africa politicians are nothing but failures and looters.

G

Cool

In a sane country all our past leader in Nigeria should be behind d bar by now

Which court in Nigeria can order the arrest of Tinubu? That why we are where we are

Nigeria left the group chat angrily.

[img]https://media./images/40dadf1ed3a45fff33b326f43893df68/tenor.gif[/img]

Was a comrade with Mandela...got to the top as president, but ended up stealing money

When will kanu and ipob do this to their leaders by no na tinubu and elrufai b their problem

try this and those goat call FULANI will be shouting they want to destroy Nigeria foolish COW

This can't happen in an insane country like..........?........

slawormiir:
Damnnn niggar
Isoright

African leaders and financial recklessness

Damnnn niggarrrr! But this is not oright na

When will Buhari be arrested?

If I were Zuma I go zoom zoom zoom
Jacob Jacob Zuma come let's zoom zoom zoom

This is what will happen to buhari after 2023

DDDEnterprises:
That's a country with laws and actually implements and enforces the law.

See am dey talk now, if them do this to Jonathan or any ex president, na Una go dey shout witch hunting.
Nonsense.

Is buhari their current president?

Okay, very contempt.

Long over due