South Africa
Suspended ANC member Carl Niehaus arrested─── 06:22 Fri, 09 Jul 2021
There have been developments outside the Estcourt Correctional Centre where Jacob Zuma has started serving his sentence.
Suspended ANC member Carl Niehaus arrived there on Thursday afternoon and was promptly arrested by police for contravening lockdown regulations.
He’d earlier said they would protest the former president’s incarceration.
Zuma handed himself in at the Estcourt Correctional Centre late Wednesday night.
He was sentenced to 15 months in jail by the Constitutional Court for contempt.
The University of KwaZulu-Natal's Dr Imraan Buccus says it's almost unheard of for a former head of state to be imprisoned.
"I think for a long time we have celebrated the kind of democracy we have in South Africa where there is complete separation of powers between the legislature, executive and the judiciary.
"It was a nail-biting event for many South Africans and I think at the same time we should commend former president Jacob Zuma for abiding by the Constitutional Court ruling and turning himself in. There are many ways I think this is a celebration of our democracy."
Buccus says this also means the forces that have been mobilising for Zuma have been weakened.
