Cape Town – South African former president Jacob Zuma’s supporters held a picket outside the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Thursday to mark a year since he was sent to jail.
According to Times Live, Nkosentsha Shezi, of the Radical Economic Transformation and One Voice movements, said the picket was to commemorate Zuma’s incarceration.
The Constitutional Court sentenced Zuma to 15 months imprisonment after he failed to appear before the Zondo Commission.
Zuma faces 16 counts of fraud, graft and racketeering related to the purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and equipment from five European arms firms.
Former President Jacob Zuma’s supporters have handed over a memorandum of demands at the Durban Central Police Station, calling for the scrapping of charges against him. @Karinda_J reports.
Watch: https://t.co/atE7QJkWye#Newzroom405 pic.twitter.com/rr8vhHk40e
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 7, 2022
He is accused of taking bribes from French defence giant Thales, which has also been charged with corruption and money laundering.
He handed himself over to the police on July 7, 2021.
His arrest was characterised by the looting of businesses and the death of hundreds of people in KwaZulu-Natal and parts of Gauteng.
Zuma was released on medical parole in September 2021.
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“President Zuma’s arrest on the night of July 7, 2021, was undoubtedly the saddest and most tragic moment in South Africa’s judicial history. It is the agents of white monopoly capital and the enemy of the majority’s struggle for economic emancipation who are behind president Zuma’s arrest,” The Witness quoted Shezi as saying.
The group further called for Cyril Ramaphosa and his allies to step down.
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Compiled by Sinothando Siyolo
