South Africa's Jacob Zuma: Contempt, unrest and di former leader in di middle

Jacob Zuma don achieve political embarrassment as di first former president of South Africa to be sent to prison.

Zuma life as a free man - wey bin enjoy di enjoyment of a former president - ended just before midnight on 8 July, 2021.

Dan na di date wen for one dramatic scene dem escort Zuma for convoy of vehicles from him domot for Nkandla village to one prison.

Jacob Zuma prison dey inside di town of Estcourt.

Constitutional Court on June 29 slap Zuma wit 15 months prison sentence for refusing to appear before one corruption investigation.

Authorities bin dey investigate corruption accuse during di nine years wen Zuma hold power as South African president.

Im son, Edward Zuma, bin warn say dem go see "blood on di floor" if im chop arrest, but in di end e happun.

Now at least 72 pipo don die for di riot wey dey happun for South Africa.

Zuma supporters enter streets to protest, mount road block to demand di release of di former President.

South African former president Jacob Zuma: Profile

Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma na South African politician wey serve as di fourth President of South Africa from 2009 to 2018. was once a celebrated political figure.

He was imprisoned for 10 years in 1963 for fighting the racist system of apartheid in South Africa, then went into exile in 1975 to become the spymaster of the African National Congress (ANC), before returning to South Africa triumphantly in 1990, and rising to the presidency in 2009, though by then his reputation had been stained by a deluge of corruption allegations.

Humble roots

He had also been charged with raping a family friend, but was acquitted in 2006 in a trial that deeply polarised the ANC, the former liberation movement which became the governing party in 1994 and of which Zuma has been a member since the age of 17.

Now, he has been imprisoned for being in contempt of a court made up of South Africa's most senior judges - those who are the guardians of the democracy he fought for most of his life.

Earlier this month, the judges of the Constitutional Court sentenced him to 15 months in prison for ignoring an order to appear before an official inquiry investigating the corruption allegations he faced during his nine-year presidency - especially his relationship with the notorious Gupta brothers who fled South Africa in 2018 as the legal noose closed in on them.

They have all denied the allegations, and Zuma insists that his political enemies are using the courts to target him.

Having fought racial oppression in South Africa at the height of the Cold War between the US and the now-defunct Soviet Union, Zuma is still steeped in this mentality, casting himself as the victim of a political conspiracy hatched by Western powers - and their "puppets" in South Africa - to thwart his attempts at ending the economic power of white people in the country.

For his critics, the former freedom fighter from a poor rural family became intoxicated by power once the liberation struggle was won and - along with his new business friends - looted the state's wealth on a grand scale.

Where the truth lies is yet to be established but it is a tribute to South Africa's 27-year-democracy that a former freedom fighter and president has been imprisoned for trying to evade accountability over his time in office.

It shows that South Africa's democratic institutions - often battered by politicians - remain strong, and judges, policemen and government officials are still prepared to uphold the rule of law by jailing a man whom some of them personally know and with whom they were once in the trenches of the liberation struggle.

Most high-profile prisoner

Moreover, judges have been scrupulously fair towards Zuma, giving him a hearing at every opportunity as he waged in the courts what became known as the Stalingrad strategy - fighting point-by-point every attempt to put him on trial for his alleged high crimes.

On Friday, a judge will rule on whether or not to revoke his arrest, and on Monday the highest court of the land will hear his request to overturn his conviction for contempt.

This is unprecedented in South Africa, and the months ahead are likely to be more dramatic as Zuma is tried, in a separate case, on charges of corruption related to a $5bn (£3bn) arms deal in the 1990s.

He is facing more than 15 counts of racketeering, corruption, fraud, tax evasion and money laundering - charges to which he pleaded not guilty during a court appearance in May.

With Zuma fighting legal battles on various fronts, the big question is: Will he ultimately win and walk free, or will he gain even more notoriety as South Africa's most high-profile prisoner?

Zuma's legal woes: