South African President Jacob Zuma has promised to abide by a court ruling that he must repay government money spent on his private home.<\/p>\n
“I respect the judgement and will abide by it,” Mr Zuma said.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, South Africa’s highest court said he was violating the constitution by refusing to pay.<\/p>\n
The case was brought by the opposition, which accused him of using “ill-gotten wealth” to upgrade his home with a swimming pool and amphitheatre.<\/p>\n
Mr Zuma had denied any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
The public protector, an anti-corruption body, ruled in 2014 that $23m (\u00a315m) had been spent on his rural home in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal province and ordered him to repay part of the money.<\/p>\n
In Thursday’s unanimous judgement, the Constitutional Court ruled that the public protector was a “Biblical David” fighting against the Goliath of corruption.<\/p>\n
Mr Zuma’s failure to repay the money was “inconsistent” with the constitution, the court added.<\/p>\n
In an address to the nation on Friday, he said he had acted in good faith but apologised for the “frustration and confusion” created by the scandal.<\/p>\n
He has been in office since 2009, and his government has been widely accused of corruption and cronyism.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n
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South African President Jacob Zuma has promised to abide by a court ruling that he must repay government money spent on his private home. “I respect the judgement and will abide by it,” Mr Zuma said. On Thursday, South Africa’s highest court said he was violating the constitution by refusing to pay. The case was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":203086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[107],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n