Jacob Zuma to be prosecuted on corruption charges

Former South African President Jacob Zuma will be charged with 16 counts of corruption, money laundering and racketeering, the country’s national prosecuting authority announced Friday.

The charges relate to 783 questionable payments Zuma allegedly received in connection with a controversial multibillion-rand arms deal.

On Friday, National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams said that there are “reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution” in Zuma’s case.

The charges were previously dropped in 2009 just before Zuma was sworn in as President.

Former South African President Jacob Zuma appears in a courtroom in Durban, South Africa, in April 2018. He has pleaded not guilty to multiple charges of fraud, racketeering and corruption relating to an arms deal in the late 1990s.

In 1991, Zuma casts a vote for the ANC's new national executive. The ANC is the African National Congress, the political party that has led South Africa since the end of apartheid. For many years, the ANC and other opposition parties were banned in South Africa.

Zuma campaigns with ANC leader Nelson Mandela, left, during South Africa's first democratic elections in 1994. Mandela was elected President. Zuma became the ANC's national chairman later that year.

President Mandela is flanked by Zuma and Deputy President Thabo Mbeki, left, at the ANC's National Congress in 1997. At this conference, Mandela announced that he would be stepping down as president of the ANC and leaving it to Mbeki. Zuma would become the party's deputy president. After Mbeki was elected to be the country's President in 1999, Zuma was appointed as his deputy.

In 2005, a South African court found businessman Schabir Shaik guilty of bribing Zuma between 1995 and 2002. Zuma, seen here replying to a question in Parliament, was fired by President Mbaki over his alleged involvement in the bribery scandal.

Zuma leaves the Johannesburg High Court in February 2006. He had been charged with raping a young family friend; he claimed the sex was consensual. Zuma was acquitted a few months later.

Zuma is congratulated by his attorney after his acquittal in May 2006.

Zuma addresses supporters outside the court in Pietermaritzburg in September 2006. A South African judge on Wednesday threw out corruption charges against Zuma, boosting the popular politician's bid to succeed President Thabo Mbeki.

Zuma gives an interview the day after his acquittal. He apologized to the nation and launched a bid for the presidency.

Zuma, right, is congratulated by Mbeki after defeating him to become the new president of the ANC in December 2007.

From left, Zuma, Mandela and Mbeki arrive on stage for Mandela's 90th birthday celebration in August 2008.

Zuma sings and dances after a speech at a rally in February 2009. Zuma was elected as South Africa's President a couple of months later.

Zuma takes an oath during his inauguration in May 2009.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addresses journalists next to Zuma in August 2009. The two met in Durban, South Africa.

Zuma addresses the United Nations General Assembly in September 2009.

Zuma signs a blackboard in October 2009, pledging South Africa's support for a global campaign to ensure education for all the world's children.

Zuma sings and dances with his new wife, Thobeka Mabhija, at their wedding ceremony in January 2010. It was the fifth marriage for the polygamous Zuma.

Zuma inspects the troops at a ceremonial welcome in London in March 2010.

Zuma looks at a chess set with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during his state visit in 2010. The chess set had been given to the Queen by Nelson Mandela in 1996.

Zuma and FIFA President Sepp Blatter address the crowd before the opening match of the 2010 World Cup. South Africa was the first African country to host the tournament.

Zuma, left, and Sky Sports commentator Chris Kamara play a charity soccer match in Cape Town, South Africa, in July 2010.

Zuma shakes hands with Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner at a G20 Summit in Seoul, South Korea, in November 2010.

Zuma addresses dignitaries during the opening ceremony of an International Olympic Committee session in July 2011. The IOC was meeting to decide which city would host the 2018 Winter Games.

Zuma greets American civil-rights activist Jesse Jackson at a ceremony in Bloemfontein, South Africa, in January 2012.

Zuma toasts his 70th birthday in April 2012.

Zuma looks at Cyril Ramaphosa after Ramaphosa was elected deputy president of the ANC in December 2012. Zuma was re-elected as the party's president.

Zuma sings during a send-off ceremony for former President Nelson Mandela, who died in December 2013 at the age of 95.

Zuma unveils a giant statue of Mandela at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, South Africa, in December 2013.

Zuma and his wife Thobeka Mabhija, right, pose with then Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his wife, Grace, as they meet in Pretoria in April 2015.

US President Barack Obama jokes with Zuma during a New York luncheon hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in September 2015.

Zuma poses for a photo following a television interview in October 2015.

Zuma and Obama shake hands before a group photo at the G20 Summit in Hangzhou, China, in September 2016. In November of that year, a report was published that contained corruption allegations against Zuma. Zuma denied any wrongdoing. He also avoided a vote of no-confidence in Parliament. It was the third time in less than a year that Zuma had faced such a vote.

Zuma talks on his cell phone during a G20 session in Hamburg, Germany, in July 2017. A month later, he survived an ouster attempt in his country's National Assembly. A motion of no-confidence was defeated by 198 votes to 177.

Zuma attends an African Union summit in January 2018. In 2017, South Africa's Constitutional Court ordered Zuma to repay millions of dollars in public funds spent on refurbishing his private homestead.

Zuma announces his resignation during a nationally televised address in February 2018. "No life should be lost in my name and also the ANC should never be divided in my name," he said. "I have therefore come to the decision to resign as President of the Republic with immediate effect." The ANC had been trying to push Zuma out for months. It dumped him as party president in December 2017, narrowly electing Cyril Ramaphosa over Zuma's preferred successor, his ex-wife and former cabinet minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Zuma sits in the dock at the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in November 2018. He was charged with 16 counts of corruption, money laundering and racketeering stemming from a billion-dollar government arms deal. He has denied all the allegations against him.

Zuma addresses hundreds of local residents in Shakaskraal, South Africa, in April 2019.

Zuma attends his trial in May 2019. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Zuma arrives to appear before the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, which was probing wide-ranging allegations of corruption in government and state-owned companies, in July 2019.

Zuma bows toward the casket of the late Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe during a farewell ceremony in Harare, Zimbabwe, in September 2019.

Zuma arrives for his trial in May 2021.

Zuma addresses supporters at his home in Nkandla, South Africa, in July 2021. In June, South Africa's highest court found Zuma guilty of contempt of court and sentenced him to 15 months in prison. The order stemmed from Zuma's refusal to appear at an anti-corruption commission to answer questions about his alleged involvement in corruption during his time as president. Zuma likened his treatment to apartheid-era detention without trial.

Zuma appears virtually from the Estcourt correctional service facility in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, in July 2021. He was seeking a further delay in his corruption trial.

In photos: Jacob Zuma's embattled political career

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Zuma, known as the “Teflon President” for his ability to survive repeated scandals through the years, stepped down in February amid a slew of corruption allegations. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The African National Congress (ANC), which had stood by Zuma for so long, dumped him as party president in favor of Cyril Ramaphosa, a 65-year-old millionaire former union leader, in December.

Ramaphosa was duly confirmed as the country’s new president in February, bringing an end to Zuma’s scandal-plagued time in office.

Fall from grace

Zuma was once a wildly popular figure who was celebrated as an anti-apartheid hero in Nelson Mandela’s realm.

He was arrested by the apartheid government in 1963 and was sentenced to 10 years on Robben Island, the penal colony that also then held Mandela.

He took on official government positions as the country transitioned to democracy and he served as deputy president from 1999 to 2005.

Jacob Zuma, South Africa's president, visits the headquarters of Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. at Megawatt Park in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Friday, May 6, 2016. It appears to be just a matter of time before South Africa's credit rating is cut to junk. Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Related article Jacob Zuma, South Africa's 'Teflon President,' is finally out

Born in Nkandla in rural KwaZulu-Natal to a policeman and a domestic worker, Zuma joined the ANC and South African Communist Party at a young age.

He never received much of a formal education, but he emerged a cunning politician able to outsmart his political opponents.

He prevailed over President Thabo Mbeki in the ANC leadership race at the end of 2007. Zuma became president after elections in 2009 and was re-elected in 2014.

But his story is very much one of a fall from grace, and the former leader has at times been the subject of ridicule in the country.

After being charged with the rape of a woman with HIV in 2005, he was mocked for saying he did not fear contracting the virus because he took a shower after sex. A court acquitted him in 2006 of rape, finding the sex to have been consensual.

In 2016, South Africa’s top court ruled that Zuma had acted unconstitutionally when he used $15 million in public funds to upgrade his private home and ordered him to repay some of the money.

CNN’s Angela Dewan and Brent Swails contributed to this report.