While the government has largely restored order on the streets, there were fears that Zuma’s latest court appearance could trigger violent protests again with his support base.
But they did not come into force immediately.
Efforts to prosecute the former president for allegedly receiving bribes in a $2 billion arms deal in the late 1990s have been seen as a test of South Africa’s ability to respond to powerful politicians.
Zuma, who has pleaded not guilty to charges including corruption, fraud and money laundering, has escaped prosecution for more than a decade by making himself the victim of a politically motivated witch-hunt.
Dressed in a dark suit and red tie, 79-year-old Zuma did not say anything, while one of his lawyers, Dali Mpofu, argued that the trial should be postponed to allow Zuma to appear in person, and not protest virtually.
Local television channel Newsroom Africa showed armored military vehicles outside the High Court in Pietermaritzburg, one of the places most affected by the recent unrest.
He asked for an adjournment for up to three weeks, by which time he said he hoped the constitutional court would have ruled on an application to annul Zuma’s prison term.
“Stalingrad Defense”
A lawyer for the state argued that the application for adjournment was nothing more than a tactic to delay.
“This application is Stalingrad season 27,” said Vim Trangov, referring to Zuma’s way of fighting his prosecution in every possible legal way—a tactic known locally as his “Stalingrad defence.”
Zuma was sentenced last month by a constitutional court for defying an order to appear in a high-level corruption investigation during his nine years in power until 2018.
Zuma denies that there was far-reaching corruption under his leadership, but he refused to cooperate with the investigation.
One of the main allegations is probing that Zuma allowed three Indian-origin businessmen, Atul, Ajay and Rajesh Gupta, to launder state resources and traffic impact on government policy.
Gupta, who fled South Africa after Zuma’s ouster, also denies wrongdoing.
More than 200 people have been killed and hundreds of businesses destroyed in the riots that followed Zuma’s imprisonment.
Rage over continuing poverty and inequality sparked protests in Zuma’s home province of KwaZulu-Natal, before escalating into arson and looting in other provinces, nearly three decades after the end of white minority rule in 1994.
Zuma’s successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, authorized the deployment of 25,000 troops to quell the unrest, and more than 2,500 people have been arrested.
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