9th August, 2021
Prosecutors and lawyers for South Africa’s jailed former president Jacob Zuma, have jointly requested that his corruption trial be postponed.
The trial was scheduled for tomorrow in Pietermaritzburg High Court.
The ex-president’s foundation reported on Monday in its Twitter handle that “the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) on behalf of all the parties sent a joint letter to Hon. Judge Koen reflecting the parties’ agreement to postpone the hearing.’’
It added that the request was made because the former president is in hospital.
NPA spokesman Mthuzi Mahaga declined to comment on whether a postponement request had been made.
Zuma, who has been in hospital since Friday, faces trial in an arms deal corruption case dating from his time as vice president.
The 79-year-old is serving a 15-month sentence at Estcourt prison in KwaZulu-Natal province.
Zuma faces charges of corruption, fraud, racketeering and money laundering over a two billion dollars arms deal involving French company Thales (then known as Thomson-CSF).