---
title: "Jacob Zuma admitted to hospital on Friday for ‘medical observation’"
description: "The former president’s scheduled court appearance on Tuesday now ‘all depends on what the doctors say’, according to Correctional Services."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "NEWSFLASH"
author: "Victoria O’Regan"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/victoria-oregan-3-2-2/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-08-06-jacob-zuma-admitted-to-hospital-on-friday-for-medical-observation/"
published: "2021-08-06T09:40:35"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 320
---

# Jacob Zuma admitted to hospital on Friday for ‘medical observation’

> The former president’s scheduled court appearance on Tuesday now ‘all depends on what the doctors say’, according to Correctional Services.

By Victoria O’Regan · Published 6 August 2021, 11:40 SAST

## Content

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](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-06-29-concourt-finds-jacob-zuma-guilty-of-unprecedented-contempt-seals-sanction-with-15-month-jail-sentence/).

“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](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-05-16-accused-number-one-zumas-day-in-court-arrives-but-dont-hold-your-breath/) has been nearly 20 years in the making.

*Read in*Daily Maverick*:*[*Jacob Zuma gets his day in court as judge orders physical hearing*](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-08-04-jacob-zuma-gets-his-day-in-court-as-judge-orders-physical-hearing/)

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".

> The Foundation confirms the statement by Correctional Services that indeed H.E President Zuma is in Hospital outside the prison.
> The 79 year old, 1st prisoner of the ConCourt, jailed without trial is attending to his annual medical routine check up. No need to be alarmed,...yet.
>
> — JGZuma Foundation (Official) (@JGZ\_Foundation) [August 6, 2021](https://twitter.com/JGZ_Foundation/status/1423530878299426822?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)

In the Correctional Services statement, it said that as a Former President, "the healthcare needs of Mr Zuma require the involvement of the South African Military Health Services. This been the case since his admission at Estcourt Correctional Centre." **DM**