By PETER DUBE

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Former president of South Africa Jacob Zuma, who is currently serving a 15-month prison sentence, has been hospitalised. 

The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) on Friday confirmed Zuma was admitted at an outside hospital for medical observation.

Mr Zuma was moved from the Estcourt Correctional Centre in KwaZulu-Natal, where he is incarcerated for contempt of court, to an unnamed hospital. 

DCS spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo said that the healthcare needs of the former president required the involvement of the South African Military Health Services. 

“This has been the case since his admission at Estcourt Correctional Centre. A routine observation prompted that Mr Zuma be taken for hospitalisation,” Mr Nxumalo said.

He added that the health of inmates is addressed under Section 35(2) of the Constitution, which obliges the department to ensure that “everyone who is detained, including every sentenced prisoner, has the right to conditions of detention that are consistent with human dignity, including at least exercise and the provision, at state expense, of adequate accommodation, nutrition, reading material and medical treatment.”

In June, the Constitutional Court found the 79-year-old former president guilty of contempt of court over his refusal to cooperate with the state capture inquiry that he set up.

Zuma is due to appear in person in court next week when his corruption trial resumes. He faces several charges related to the 1999 arms deal.