The move ended days of intense speculation over whether the police and former President would comply with the country’s Constitutional Court for Zuma’s arrest and imprisonment.
Just before the clock wound down on the midnight deadline, Zuma was admitted to the Estcourt Correctional Center near his home in KwaZulu-Natal province, according to the Department of Correctional Services.
“Former President of South Africa, Mr. Jacob Zuma was on the July 7, 2021, placed in the custody of the South African Police Service, in compliance with the Constitutional Court judgment,” said Police Ministry spokesperson Lirandzu Themba said in a statement.
The order stemmed from Zuma’s refusal to appear at an anti-corruption commission to answer questions about his alleged involvement in corruption during his time as president.
His incarceration, however, could be short lived.
On Friday, a High Court judge will rule whether police should have waited to bring him in until after a Constitutional Court hearing, due to take place on July 12, where his lawyers will argue mitigating circumstances in his sentence.
