Jacob Zuma's Doctors Miss Deadline to Submit Medical Report, NPA Rejects Reasons Given

• The National Prosecuting Authority says former President Jacob Zuma's doctors have missed the deadline given by the Pietermaritzburg High Court
• Zuma's doctors were ordered to submit his full medical report to the High Court by 20 August and they asked for an extension
• The NPA says it does not think the reasons given by Zuma's doctors for an extension are adequate

PIETERMARITZBURG - Doctors in charge of the care of former President Jacob Zuma have missed the deadline of 20 August to submit a report of the assessment of his medical health status to the Pietermaritzburg High Court as previously required by Judge Piet Koen.

According to News24, Zuma's doctors have made an application to hand over his medical report on 27 August for undisclosed reasons.

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Mthunzi Mhaga, the National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson, says the NPA does not accept the reasons given for this delay. Mhanga also added that such a request for an extension would need to be heard by the court and the court would decide if an extension is warranted.

Zuma's legal representative, Advocate Dali Mpofu previously submitted a doctor's letter to the High Court explaining that Zuma was unable to make it to his arms deal corruption trial that was set to happen on 12 August because he was unwell, reports the Mail & Guardian.

His doctor further stated Zuma's life was at imminent risk and that he needed at least six months of treatment for an injury he suffered at least a year ago.

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Mpofu told the court that dependent on the outcome of Zuma's full medical report, Zuma's team might request a longer postponement for his arms deal trial should he be not fit to stand trial in the near future.

Jacob Zuma's legal team given 10 days to provide full medical report

Briefly News previous reported that the Pietermaritzburg High Court has given former president Jacob Zuma's legal team until 20 August to provide the court with Zuma's medical report.

This comes after Zuma's legal team presented the court with a letter from Zuma's doctor which stated that Zuma was suffering an illness that would need at least six months to treat, according to the Sunday Times.

Zuma's advocate Dali Mpofu stated that the letter presented to the court was sufficient information for the court to postpone Zuma's arms deal corruption trial until a further date.

However, State Prosecutor Wim Trengove argued that the doctor's letter did not highlight Zuma's medical condition. Trengove also highlighted how odd it was that Zuma needed medical treatment for a condition that he had been aware of for the past year, according to a report by EWN.

Source: Briefly News