Top South African Court to Review Zuma Contempt Conviction

(Bloomberg) -- South Africa top court agreed to hear an application by former President Jacob Zuma to have his conviction on contempt charges and 15-month sentence set aside.

The Constitutional Court on June 29 found Zuma guilty of violating its order to appear before a judicial panel that's investigating allegations of corruption during his nine-year tenure and ordered him to hand himself in to the authorities within five days to begin serving his sentence.

Zuma's application will be heard on July 12, Dunisani Mathiba, the court's acting registrar, said in a court filing on Saturday. Its decision will probably mean that Zuma will no longer have to surrender himself by Sunday as scheduled, although the court didn't issue specific instructions in that regard.

In his application, the 79-year old Zuma said his life would be threatened should he be incarcerated due to his advanced age and poor health, and he hadn't been given the opportunity to argue in mitigation of sentence. He also denied that he was unwilling to appear before the graft inquiry, saying he failed to adhere to the directive to testify due to medical reasons.

Read: South African Court Jails Former President Zuma for Contempt

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