Cape Town – Former president Jacob Zuma is currently in Moscow, Russia, seeking medical assistance, a report said on Friday.
According to News24, Zuma flew commercially to Russia with six state-funded VIP protectors.
The report said that the Jacob Zuma Foundation spokesperson Mzwanele Manyi confirmed his trip and said that he went for medical check-ups as he has not been feeling well.
“He went for medical check ups. He has not been feeling well.
“He is expected to return to South Africa next week,” the report quoted Manyi as saying.
This comes after the Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld an earlier ruling that Zuma should return to prison to complete his 15-month term for contempt of court, dismissing an appeal seeking to keep him out of jail.
It was not immediately clear whether Zuma would return to jail, with prison authorities saying they were studying the judgement and would seek legal advice.
Zuma was sentenced in June 2021 after refusing to testify before a panel probing financial sleaze and cronyism under his presidency — but was freed on medical parole just two months into his term.
JACOB ZUMA WILL MOST LIKELY HAVE TO GO BACK TO PRISON, this after The Constitutional Court dismissed an application for leave to appeal against the decision of the SCA on Zuma’s medical parole, saying it bears “no reasonable prospects of success”.#ZumaFamilyCorrupt pic.twitter.com/x7UVlnlCI9
— Goolam (@goolammv) July 13, 2023
He started serving the sentence early in July.
His jailing sparked riots that descended into looting and left more than 350 dead in the worst violence to hit the country since the advent of democracy in South Africa.
The following month, he was admitted to hospital for an undisclosed condition before being granted medical parole.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
