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South Africa President Jacob Zuma vows to obey court ruling | |
(35 minutes later) | |
South African President Jacob Zuma has promised to abide by a court ruling that he must repay government money spent on his private home. | |
"I respect the judgement and will abide by it," Mr Zuma said. | |
On Thursday, South Africa's highest court said he was violating the constitution by refusing to pay. | |
The case was brought by the opposition, which accused him of using "ill-gotten wealth" to upgrade his home with a swimming pool and amphitheatre. | |
Mr Zuma had denied any wrongdoing. | |
The public protector, an anti-corruption body, ruled in 2014 that $23m (£15m) had been spent on his rural home in Nkandla in KwaZulu-Natal province and ordered him to repay part of the money. | |
In Thursday's unanimous judgement, the Constitutional Court ruled that the public protector was a "Biblical David" fighting against the Goliath of corruption. | |
Mr Zuma's failure to repay the money was "inconsistent" with the constitution, the court added. | |
In an address to the nation on Friday, he said he respected "the finding that failure to comply with the remedial action taken against me by the public protector is inconsistent with the constitution". | |
He added that he had "never knowingly and deliberately set out to violate the constitution" and apologised for the "frustration and confusion" created by the scandal. | |
He has been in office since 2009, and his government has been widely accused of corruption and cronyism. | |
The case had been brought by two opposition parties, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and the Democratic Alliance (DA). | |
The EFF called on Mr Zuma to step down. |