On Tuesday, South Africa’s highest court ordered the imprisonment of Jacob Zuma, former South African president. Zuma was indicted for contempt charged after he defied an order to appear before a corruption inquiry examing financial scandals that tainted his tenure as the country’s president from 2009 to 2018. Zuma will go to jail for 15 months due to the charges. The movement to detain Zuma, a comrade of Nelson Mandela and one of the dominant figures in the African National Congress party, was a development of the legacy of corruption that impacted his years in power.
Many across the country viewed the ruling as a victory for the young democratic nation. However, those who support Zuma criticized the decision as political and urged resistance. Zuma’s foundation did not state what the president planned to do following the indictment. The ruling sent a message to the larger South African government that no individual is above the law. The ruling will likely have implications across the continent, where corruption is rampant and courts often cater to the head of state, according to the leader of the Democracy Works Foundation.
Read More: South African Court Orders Arrest of Ex-President Jacob Zuma for Contempt
