Cape Town - The Jacob Zuma Foundation has entered the fray over Parliament's claim that former president Jacob Zuma would be attending the State of the Nation Address on Thursday.
The foundation said Zuma would not attend the SONA, which would have been the first time Zuma attended any of President Cyril Ramaphosa's SONAs since he took over at the Union Buildings.
Zuma has not attended any of Ramaphosa's three SONAs so far, and he won't be in the gallery with the likes of former presidents FW de Klerk, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe, on Thursday night.
Carl Niehaus, a fervent supporter of the former president, had also earlier dismissed claims that the former president would attend the SONA on Thursday.
In a brief statement, the foundation denied Zuma would attend Thursday’s session.
“Zuma never confirmed he was going to the SONA, Parliament (is) misleading,” it said.
Questions were raised after Parliament confirmed in a tweet that Zuma would join other former presidents for the SONA.
Parliament has since apologised for suggesting Zuma would attend.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/SONA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SONA, an earlier tweet erroneously included Former President Jacob Zuma. The confirmation was premature; an accurate update will be given later today. The error is regretted. https://t.co/hCjPtzVFNZ
— Parliament of RSA (@ParliamentofRSA)
The DA had said if Zuma was fit enough to attend SONA, he was also fit enough to attend his court matter at the Pietermaritzburg High Court. The high court issued an arrest warrant for
The court had issued a warrant of arrest, which was stayed until May 6, against Zuma. This was after he had missed his court appearance and the medical certificate presented by his legal counsel, was questioned by the court.
His supporters have vowed to defend Zuma.