Jacob Zuma in hospital for medical treatment, Ramaphosa says

Former South African president Jacob Zuma is receiving medical treatment in hospital, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Friday.

Ramaphosa said Zuma, 84, had “not been well” and had been put under treatment by doctors. He said the military surgeon general had been briefed about Zuma's condition and wished him a quick recovery.

Several local media outlets reported that Zuma was taken by ambulance to a medical clinic in Pietermaritzburg on Wednesday. Zuma's party, MKP, said he was undergoing a routine checkup and was “healthy and in good spirits”, but gave no details.

Zuma was South Africa's president from 2009 until 2018, when he was forced to resign by the African National Congress after a series of corruption scandals. He returned to national politics in 2024 when the MKP, formed only months earlier, came third in national elections.