Embattled ex South African President, Jacob Zuma, has been admitted to a hospital for “medical observation,” a week before the 79-year-old is due to attend the resumption of a long-running corruption trial.
According to media reports, no reason was given for the hospitalization on Friday, apart from that it was prompted by “a routine observation,” to which the Department of Correctional Services said every detainee or sentenced prisoner, had the right to conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity, including medical treatment.
Also reacting, Zuma’s foundation, while confirming that he was in hospital, said the trip was for his annual routine medical check-up and there was no cause for alarm.
The August 10 hearing will include a plea to drop 16 charges of fraud, corruption and racketeering against him related to the 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and equipment from five European arms firms when he was deputy president.
In a separate case, Zuma was handed a 15-month jail sentence in late June for snubbing a commission probing state corruption during his nine years in office until 2018.
He started serving the sentence on July 8 at Estcourt prison, in the east of the country. When he handed himself in, a situation that led to protests by his supporters, which escalated into riots – looting and arson, which President Cyril Ramaphosa described as an “insurrection”.
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