Cape Town – Increased police deployment to hotspots in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal is expected ahead of former president Jacob Zuma’s trial on Tuesday, August 10, reports say.
According to broadcasting television channel eNCA, police Commissioner Khehla Sitole is expected to extend the deployment of officers to deal with potential protests and violence.
Zuma, 79, who is currently serving his 15-month jail term at Estcourt prison for contempt of court, will on Tuesday attend a long-running corruption case in person rather than by video link, a judge ruled last week.
The hearing, scheduled to resume in Pietermaritzburg “shall proceed in an open court”, Judge Piet Koen said.
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Zuma’s incarceration sparked riots and looting that escalated into the worst violence since the end of apartheid, killing more than 300 people, according to the official count.
He shortly afterward appeared for the corruption trial via video link, although his lawyers complained the online format was unconstitutional and breached his right to face-to-face consultation with his lawyers.
Zuma faces 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering related to the 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and equipment from five European arms firms when he was deputy president.
He is accused of taking bribes from one of the firms, French defence giant Thales, which has been charged with corruption and money laundering.
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Meanwhile IOL reported this weekend that the African National Congress (ANC) has issued a stern warning against its own members who are allegedly planning to stage a second phase protest against the government.
“The warning comes after former Umkhonto we Sizwe Military Veterans’ (MKMVA) member Carl Niehaus and former ANC Nelson Mandela Bay councillor Andile Lungisa were among a group of disgruntled party members who are threatening a campaign for the immediate release of former president Jacob Zuma and the implementation of radical economic transformation,” the report said.
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Additional reporting by AFP
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