MOTORCADE LEAVES NKANDLA HOMESTEAD BUT NO CONFIRMATION OF ZUMA'S PRESENCE

Jacob Zuma was expected to be arrested by police on Wednesday to begin his 15-month prison sentence after a scathing Constitutional Court judgment.

A motorcade leaving former President Jacob Zuma was seen leaving his Nkandla homestead at 11:15pm on Wednesday. Picture: Screengrab/Nkosikhona Duma

Nkosikhona Duma 

DURBAN - A motorcade leaving former President Jacob Zuma was seen leaving his Nkandla homestead at 11:15pm on Wednesday. There is no confirmation, however, that Zuma was in the convoy.

Zuma was expected to be arrested by police on Wednesday night to begin his 15-month prison sentence after a scathing Constitutional Court judgment found him guilty of being in a contempt of a ruling that said he must appear and participate at the state capture commission.

Zuma was meant to hand himself over to police on Sunday 4 June, failing which police had three days to arrest him, making the final deadline midnight on Wednesday.

Zuma asked the justices of the apex court to reconsider their ruling through a rescission application, but this does not automatically stay his arrest. Zuma also turned to the High Court in attempt to stay out of prison.

On Tuesday, the former president's lawyer, Dali Mpofu, asked the Pietermaritzburg High Court to freeze his arrest warrant and jail term pending the outcome of his rescission application in the Constitutional Court.

The state capture commission opposed Zuma’s legal bid in the High Court, saying it did not have the power to overturn a committal by the Constitutional Court.

Judgment by the Pietermaritzburg High Court has been reserved until Friday.

Just five hours before the midnight deadline, Zuma returned to the source of his current legal woes - Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo - asking for a reprieve in the face of pending arrest.