South Africa’s top court rules against president in scandal

JOHANNESBURG — For two years, South Africa’s president brushed off a scandal over state spending on his private home, even when critics scoffed at the notion that a swimming pool and a chicken run were necessary security features.

South African President Jacob Zuma “failed to uphold” the Constitution when he didn’t pay back some of the more than $20 million in state funds used to upgrade his rural home, South Africa’s Constitutional Court ruled unanimously on Thursday.



[...] Zuma’s political career has survived a string of scandals — from his acquittal for rape in 2006 to the most recent allegation that his friends have the freedom to appoint Cabinet ministers.