Former South African President Jacob Zuma has handed himself over to authorities to begin his 15-month prison sentence, ending a tense standoff between his armed supporters and the police. Zuma turned himself over to the authorities on Wednesday just minutes before the midnight deadline ended for the police to arrest him. He had earlier been found guilty of contempt of court by the country's apex court after he repeatedly refused to return to the Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, where witnesses have implicated him in corruption.

He is accused of enabling the plunder of state coffers during his nearly nine-year stay in office from 2009 to 2018. The Constitutional Court had given Zuma until Wednesday to hand himself in or face arrest by the police, but he was adamant that he had been unfairly treated. On Tuesday, Zuma's legal team put in a last ditch attempt to get the High Court to rescind the Constitutional Court ruling. The High Court will rule on the matter on Friday, but law experts concurred that there was a slim chance of any success, as the High Court could not overrule the apex court.