THE Department of Correctional Services announced on Friday that former President Jacob Zuma has been admitted to a hospital outside the Estcourt Correctional Centre, where he has been serving a sentence for contempt of court.

“A routine observation prompted that Mr Zuma be taken for in-hospitalisation,” it said in a statement.  He had been admitted for “medical observation”. 

The 79-year-old former president, who insisted it would be a violation of his right to a fair trial to have his plea heard virtually, is scheduled to appear in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday for a plea application in his Arms Deal corruption trial.  The court had ruled in his favour in his application for an in-person sitting.

The much-anticipated fraud and corruption trial has been nearly 20 years in the making.  

Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo told Daily Maverick that Zuma’s scheduled court appearance “all depends on what the doctors say”.  “If the doctors discharge him before then and say he’s fit to go there, he will attend [the hearing]. The medical experts will provide guidance in terms of Tuesday,” he said.

The Jacob Zuma Foundation said in a statement via Twitter on Friday that the former president was “attending to his annual medical routine check-up”.