Lungani Zungu
Earlier this month former President Jacob Zuma was transferred to a military hospital – where he underwent surgery that he had delayed for 18 months. He is still receiving medical care at the military hospital.
Zuma was arrested on 7 July after he was sentenced to 15 months in prison for defying a court order. But he will be eligible for parole in the middle of October, having to serve only a quarter of his sentence.
By the look of things, he is likely to spend more time at the military hospital. He is not treated as a prisoner there but a patient, according to his lawyer Advocate Dali Mpofu. He is expected to undergo more surgery.
If this is anything to go by, then Zuma may go straight to Nkandla after leaving the military hospital.
Whether this is his grand escape plan remains to be seen.
Correctional Services have vowed to treat Zuma just like any other prisoner. But questions remain whether he had ever spent time in a proper jail cell since his arrest.
When Zuma was arrested on 7 July, he was placed in the correctional facility’s quarantine section, where he was alone for two weeks until 20 July.
Just two days after he was out of quarantine on 23 July, he was released to bury his brother Michael.
When he returned, he was placed in another two-week quarantine until 6 August – the same day he was admitted into the military facility.
Zuma’s lawyers missed the August 20 deadline to say whether he would be fit to stand trial in the multi-billion rand Arms Deal case in the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
They were granted another week to provide the medical report.
In an eyebrow-raising move on Tuesday, Zuma has asked his supporters to donate money so he can pay for his growing legal bills. Mzwanele Manyi, the spokesperson of the JG Foundation, confirmed that the former president was asking for donations from South Africans.
Zuma’s current legal battles include:
- The rescission application with the Constitutional Court where he is fighting to be released from prison.
- Zuma is also fighting to have National Prosecuting Authority’s Advocate Billy Downer SC removed to lead his prosecution in the Arms Deal case.
- Zuma is facing 18 charges of corruption, money laundering and fraud stemming from the Arms Deal.
- He is also facing the R18.2 million legal bill after it was ruled that the State was not obliged to fund him for his corruption trial.
Image source: @advovolicious
