Zuma fails to attend corruption trial, secures postponement

Johannesburg, Apr 11 (EFE).- The legal team of former South African president Jacob Zuma said he was unable to show up at his corruption trial on Monday due to a “medical emergency” and lodged a successful bid to postpone proceedings once again.

The head of Zuma’s defense team, Dali Mpofu, on Monday said Zuma was in “no condition” to attend the trial at the court in Pietermaritzburg, eastern South Africa, due to an unspecified medical emergency.

The presiding judge, Piet Koen, slated a new date for May 17.

Zuma, who led the country between 2009-18, when he was forced to resign from a tenure dogged by corruption scandals, faced charges of illicit association, corruption, money laundering and fraud for allegedly accepting bribes from arms company Thales in the late 1990s, shortly after he was elected deputy president.

The 79-year-old has also found himself at the center of a separate case for state capture, which is probing alleged systemic corruption during his tenure.EFE

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