‘Victory for rule of law’

Jacob Zuma yesterday began a 15-month sentence for contempt of court, becoming post-apartheid South Africa's first president to be jailed after a drama that campaigners said ended in a victory for rule of law.   

Zuma, 79, reported to prison early yesterady after mounting a last-ditch legal bid and stoking defiance among radical supporters who had rallied at his rural home.

His battle transfixed the country, placing a spotlight on the issue of impunity and tensions within the ruling African National Congress (ANC).

South Africa's top court on June 29 slapped Zuma with a 15-month term for refusing an order to appear before a probe into the corruption that entangled his nine years in power.

As police warned he faced arrest from midnight Wednesday, Zuma handed himself in to a jail in the rural town of Estcourt in his home province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Former corruption buster and ex-ombudswoman Thuli Madonsela hailed it as a "glorious day, in that it says that the rule of law prevails."

The episode provided what is likely to be a crushing end to an extraordinary but tarnished career.

Born into poverty, Zuma started out as an uneducated herdboy who joined the ANC, becoming its intelligence chief in its struggle against the apartheid regime.

His charisma and courage, including 10 years in jail on notorious Robben Island, placed him alongside Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo and other liberation heroes.

In 2009, he became democratic South Africa's third president, but it proved to be a tenure darkened by divisions and the stench of corruption.

In 2018, Zuma was forced out by the ANC and replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa.

Zuma has also been accused of involvement in a bribery affair dating back more than 20 years. He faces 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering relating to a 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and military gear from five European arms firms for 30 billion rand, then the equivalent of nearly $5 billion.