Court issues arrest warrant for former South African president Zuma

JOHANNESBURG: A South African court issued an arrest warrant on Tuesday for controversial former president Jacob Zuma after he failed to appear in a pre-trial hearing on charges of corruption linked to an arms deal in the 1990s.

Zuma’s counsel said he couldn’t attend Tuesday’s pre-trial hearing because he was sick and receiving treatment abroad, in the latest development in a case that has seen various legal changes over a decade and a half.

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Hence, the court said the execution of the warrant would be postponed until May 6, when the trial is due to continue. The High Court in Pietermaritzburg’s southeastern city released the warrant after challenging the credibility of the sick note said a military doctor had signed it.

“The court agreed Mr Zuma may be seriously ill,” Judge Dhaya Pillay said. “But this court wants credible evidence that Mr. Zuma was indeed sick,” she said. “It’s not obvious whether the doctor is really a normal practitioner,” she added.

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State Attorney Billy Downer said it was a “criminal act” for the 77-year-old Zuma, who was in office from 2009 to 2018. Later outside the court Zuma’s counsel Dan Mantsha said that “our courts have no conscience, no sympathy.”