Duduzane Zuma Briefly Detained at OR Tambo Airport

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – Duduzane Zuma, the son of scandal-plagued former South African president Jacob Zuma, was briefly detained at Johannesburg’s main airport on Thursday relating to a corruption case, his lawyer said on Friday.

Duduzane Zuma, who was returning to South Africa to attend his brother’s funeral, is due at Randburg Magistrate’s Court in Johannesburg next week to face separate charges of culpable homicide over a fatal 2014 car crash.

Zuma’s Porsche 911 sports car ploughed into a minivan taxi in Johannesburg, killing one woman and seriously injuring another who later died in hospital.

Zuma, who has previously said his car hit a puddle of water, will be contesting the charges.

His detainment at OR Tambo airport was in connection with a case filed in Rosebank, Johannesburg in 2016, his lawyer Rudi Krause said, adding that he didn’t have any other details.

“He was detained for about two hours on Thursday at OR Tambo airport,” Krause said.

“There must have been a red flag which alerted police to his arrival.”

Local media reported that there was an arrest warrant out for Zuma but authorities at the airport could not access it in time. Krause said he had not been shown an arrest warrant.

Former President Zuma, 76, faces charges of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a $2.5 billion arms deal in the late 1990s. He denies wrongdoing.

Zuma made a second court appearance in Durban last month relating to the case.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)