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TEHRAN, Jul 15 - Former South African president Jacob Zuma will be questioned at a public inquiry into state graft on Monday, a dramatic fall from grace for a politician who has cast a long shadow over the country’s politics for the past decade.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - Zuma, ousted by the governing African National Congress (ANC) in February 2018, will be asked to respond to allegations that he allowed cronies to plunder state resources and influence senior government appointments during his nine years in power.
He has consistently denied wrongdoing, saying the allegations against him are politically motivated. His lawyer said in a letter to the inquiry last month that Zuma believed it was prejudiced against him.
Zuma is expected to give evidence from Monday to Friday, testimony that will be broadcast live on South African television to millions of viewers.
It is a rare example of an African leader being brought to book soon after losing power.
Zuma, 77, has also been in court on several occasions over the past year to answer corruption charges linked to a deal to buy military hardware for the armed forces in the 1990s.
He set up the corruption inquiry in his final weeks in office under pressure from rivals in the ANC, including his successor, Cyril Ramaphosa, who feared scandals surrounding Zuma could tarnish the party’s reputation indelibly.
Source: Reuters
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