Jacob Zuma, South Africa’s former President is presently in Moscow, Russia’s capital, for health reasons. This was according an announcement by his foundation.
This news is coming a day after Zuma, had lost a case at the Constitutional Court. He had tried to overturn a ruling directing him to return to prison.
Mzwanele Manyi, the foundation’s spokesperson had left for Russia last week on a commercial flight.
This is not Zuma’s first flight for treatment in Russia as he had been flown to the country in 2014 after being allegedly poisoned.
The South African Constitutional Court had ruled on Thursday, July 13, that Zuma had been granted medical parole illegally.
Ex-prison service head and Zuma’s ally, Arthur Fraser, had been the one to grant the former president parole.
Zuma was released in September 2021 after being convicted of contempt for refusing to co-operate with anti-corruption enquiry during his office tenure.
He had serving about eight weeks of a 15-month jail sentence.
Meanwhile the prisons department has remarked that it is still researching the constitutional court’s judgement. A comment will be made after seeking legal advice.
Also, the Democratic Alliance, DA, the main opposition party in the country had welcomed the Constitutional court’s ruling, affirming that Zuma belonged behind bars.