The former president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, was taken into custody on Wednesday to serve a 15-month prison sentence. The Constitutional Court ordered the imprisonment last month after he was found guilty of contempt for failing to appear before a commission investigating corruption accusations.
Mr. Zuma was forced to step down after the extent of corruption in the African National Congress Party became clear. A liberation movement was turned into a vehicle of self-enrichment for many officials. The nation’s tax agency was gutted while business contracts and rivals scrambled for wealth and power as a result of the corruption. Mr. Zuma voluntarily surrendered on Wednesday at 11:20 p.m., 40 minutes before a midnight deadline for police to hand him over to prison officials.
Read more: Jacob Zuma, Former South African President, Is Arrested
