Jailing Me During Covid Is Same As Death Sentence: Jacob Zuma

South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma said sending him to jail during the height of a pandemic, at his age, is the same as sentencing him to death.

South Africa's former president Jacob Zuma, ordered to surrender himself to start a 15-month jail term for contempt, said Sunday he would not be doing so by the court-set deadline. "No need for me to go to jail today," he told journalists at his Nkandla homestead in Kwa-Zulu Natal province, where hundreds of his supporters are camped outside in solidarity. "They cannot accept papers and expect me to go to jail," he said, referring to his legal challenge of the sentence. "Sending me to jail during the height of a pandemic, at my age, is the same as sentencing me to death," he added.