South Africa: Jacob Zuma's corruption trial postponed to May 26

The corruption trial of former South African President Jacob Zuma, which was due to start on Monday, has been postponed to May 26 by South African justice.

Read also: South Africa: ex-President Zuma on the dock

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" said Judge Piet Koen asking the accused to be present at a hearing which AFP attended.

This trial for a bribe affair more than twenty years old with the French group Thales, has already been postponed several times, the former president multiplying the appeals. Dropped by his army of lawyers a few weeks earlier, it was his new counsel, Me Thabani Masuku, who told the Court on Monday that "

". A handful of minutes earlier, the entire courtroom rose when the former South African president took his seat. "

», Had launched a supporter in the corridor of the court of Pietermaritzburg (East).

Jacob Zuma, 79, faces sixteen counts of fraud, corruption and racketeering linked to the purchase, in 1999, of military equipment from five European armaments companies, while he was vice-president. He is accused of having pocketed more than four million rand (or 235,000 euros at the current rate) from Thales, which was one of the companies awarded the juicy contract with a global value of around 2.8 billion euros. The French defense giant is also being prosecuted for corruption and money laundering. Jacob Zuma, like Thales, has always denied these accusations.

Jacob Zuma, mired in multiple scandals and accusations of corruption but who has defied justice for months, arrived in court accompanied by members of his family, including his son Duduzane Zuma. Members of his bodyguard within the ANC, the ruling party, were also present. "

" Ace Magashule, the party's former secretary general recently suspended on corruption charges, told AFP, describing a "

"

trial

. In power between 2009 and 2018, Jacob Zuma was forced to resign after a series of scandals. His successor Cyril Ramaphosa has promised to eradicate corruption in the country.