Picture File: Former President Jacob Zuma addresses his supporters outside his house on July 04, 2021 in Nkandla, South Africa. The former president was found guilty of contempt of court by the Constitutional Court of South Africa and has been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment. (Photo by Gallo Images/Volksblad/Mlungisi Louw)
Former president Jacob Zuma’s foundation on Tuesday appealed to the public for donations to help with his mounting legal bills.
ALSO READ: Zuma’s doctors fail to file medical report on fitness to stand trial
The JG Zuma Foundation posted a poster of its banking details on Twitter for the public to “lend a helping hand” to assist the convicted former president.
The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) earlier this year dismissed Zuma’s bid to overturn a judgment handed down by the North Gauteng High Court in 2018, which held that he had to foot the legal bill for his corruption case himself and saw him ordered to repay millions of rands the state had previously forked out.
The total reached an estimated R25 million.
On Monday, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) confirmed that Zuma’s doctors had failed to file their report in time on the 79 year old’s fitness to stand trial for his arms deal corruption case.
“We can only confirm is that they missed the deadline to file the medical report and the court will deal with that,” NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga told The Citizen.
The deadline to hand over the report, as directed by Pietermaritzburg High Court’s Judge Piet Koen, was last Friday, 20 August.
Zuma, along with French company Thales, are facing numerous charges – including fraud‚ corruption, money laundering and racketeering
Earlier this month, Zuma was admitted to a military hospital for medical observation for an undisclosed illness. The Department of Correctional Services said the former statesman had a surgical procedure and other procedures were scheduled for the coming days.
In June, Zuma was sentenced to 15 months in jail for being contempt of the Constitutional Court.
Compiled by Thapelo Lekabe. Additional reporting by Bernadette Wicks
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