A court in South Africa has issued an arrest warrant for former president, Jacob Zuma.
The judge, Dhaya Pillay, ordered his arrest ahead of the corruption trial which resumes on May 6.
Zuma had failed to appear in court on grounds of needing medical treatment.
During the court session on Tuesday, Zuma’s lawyer, Dan Mantsha, presented the judge with a sick note from “a military hospital”.
Mantsha claimed that his client was abroad for medical treatment, without saying where.
But the judge refused to accept and said there was no medical number showing if and where the doctor was certified.
“I don’t even know if [he] is a doctor. There is nothing to suggest that he is,” she said, before issuing the warrant”, Reuters quoted him as saying.
Zuma is on trial on 18 charges of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a $2 billion arms deal with French defense firm Thales in 1999,.
Zuma, who was South Africa deputy president then, has called the allegations a politically motivated witch-hunt.
NAN
