South Africa’s Correctional Services Department has warned members of the public against sharing pictures of the imprisoned former President Jacob Zuma saying they were illegally acquired.

Meanwhile, the department has since opened a criminal case after a camera SD card, containing images of former president Jacob Zuma, being admitted at a correctional centre was stolen.

Images of Zuma being admitted at the Estcourt Correctional Centre, have been doing the rounds on social media on Thursday.

The former president handed himself over to police officials after being found in contempt of court and sentenced to serve a 15-month jail term.

Correctional Services says it’s disturbed that the photos got out. Said Correctional Services spokesperson Singabakho Nxumalo:

We have to open a criminal case because these are unauthorised photos, they are not for circulation purposes and they were not okayed through the right means, and no authority was sought from us to say, can we take these photos? Can we use them?

The department is urging South Africans to refrain from sharing the pictures.

Some say Zuma is obviously going to have preferential treatment even when in jail with some saying the jail standards will be far much better than that of common men outside of prison.