The High Court in Pietermaritzburg, southeast South Africa, today postponed the corruption trial of former President Jacob Zuma until later this month.

South African judge Piet Koen decided at the end of a videoconference session to postpone the case to September 21 and 22, stressing that the hearing of the case will be in "open court."

"The case was adjourned in the absence of the first accused and the representatives of the second accused to 10 a.m. (local time) on September 21 and 22, 2021 in open court in Pietermaritzburg," the South African judge said.

According to the judge, the parties agreed on a schedule for submitting affidavits on the medical report related to Zuma's health condition, which remains in a military hospital following an unknown medical procedure.

The Department of Prison Services on September 5 placed the former President of South Africa on probation for "medical reasons."

Jacob Zuma, 79, has been hospitalized since August 6 outside the prison where he was serving a 15-month sentence, about 150 kilometers from his residence in Nkandla, Kwazulu-Natal, the province hardest hit by the violent riots and looting that erupted in July after his incarceration, causing more than 330 deaths in the country.

The former head of state was arrested on July 8 for contempt of a Constitutional Court order to appear before a commission of inquiry into corruption during his time as president between 2009 and 2018.

Zuma faces multiple charges of fraud, extortion, money laundering and corruption in a 20-year case related to the purchase of military weapons by the South African state from several European arms companies in 1999, when he was serving as the country's vice president under former President Thabo Mbeki.