Former South African president Jacob Zuma jailed for 15 months

Former South African president Jacob Zuma has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for defying a court order to appear before an inquiry probing wide-ranging allegations of corruption during his tenure, reports AP

Zuma was not in court on Tuesday when he was found guilty of contempt of court and has been ordered to hand himself over within five days to a police station in his hometown of Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal province or in Johannesburg.

This is the first time in South Africa’s history that a former president has been sentenced to prison.

The country’s Constitutional Court ruled that Zuma defied an order by refusing to cooperate with the commission of inquiry, which is chaired by deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo.

“The Constitutional Court holds that there can be no doubt that Mr Zuma is in contempt of court,” acting chief justice Sisi Khampepe said.

“Mr Zuma was served with the order and it is impossible to conclude anything other than that he was unequivocally aware of what it required of him.”

She said the court found it impossible to conclude Zuma would comply with any order other than a prison sentence.

“Mr Zuma has repeatedly reiterated that he would rather be imprisoned than to cooperate.