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The corruption trial of South African Jacob Zuma, set to resume this week, will be delayed by 10 days, prosecutors said on Tuesday, following the ex-president’s release on medical parole.
Zuma, 79, was granted medical parole on Sunday after a 15-month prison sentence for a corruption probe into his 2009-18 presidency.
He was scheduled to attend a virtual court hearing on Thursday in a protracted bribery case linked to a 1999 arms purchase while he was vice president.
But the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday that the next hearing would serve to postpone the trial to September 20 and 21.
The delay is intended to “allow the medical team of state-appointed specialists to examine the evidence in cooperation with Mr. Zuma’s medical team,” he said in a statement.
Details of Zuma’s medical condition have been kept confidential. He was hospitalized from prison in early August and underwent surgery later that month.
Critics accuse the ex-president and his legal team of using delaying tactics to evade justice.
The main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, accused the prison services of bias and pledged “legal steps” to review the decision-making process behind parole.
Zuma faces 16 counts of fraud, corruption and racketeering related to the 1999 purchase of fighter jets, patrol boats and equipment from five European arms companies.
He is accused of accepting bribes from one of the companies, French defense giant Thales, which has been charged with corruption and money laundering.
Both deny wrongdoing.
Court proceedings have been repeatedly delayed for more than a decade as Zuma’s lawyers fought to have the charges dropped.
The trial was last postponed to September 9 pending a medical report on Zuma’s condition.
sch / sn
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