Pretoria - As President-elect Cyril Ramaphosa's inauguration got under way on Saturday, former President Jacob Zuma was nowhere to be seen at Loftus Versveld Stadium in Pretoria.
While all the other former SA presidents accompanied their wives, former first lady and Zuma's fourth wife Bongi Ngema-Zuma arrived alone.
Earlier, GCIS had confirmed that an invitation had been extended to all former heads of state.
About 32 000 people were expected to converge on Loftus, with an additional 4 500 VIP guests, including Cabinet ministers and their deputies, MPs, provincial premiers, MECs and mayors.
While speaking to supporters outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court last week, Zuma said he felt let down by the current governemnt. He said he would not attend the inauguration of president Cyril Ramaphosa because he was busy working on his corruption case with his legal team.
“I am busy with lawyers, and if you don’t see me in other events you will know that this man is busy."
Known to air his views on social media, Zuma has also been quiet on his Twitter account.
This is the second biggest event Zuma is missing after he didn't attend this year's State of the Nation Adress.
Meanwhile, the former ANC leader, who had made an appearance at the Pietermaritzburg High Court for his corruption trial, on Friday addressed his supporters outside the court stating that he had done nothing wrong.
He warned that those who continously sought to taint his image and prosecute him without cause, should go ahead as he would also dish out dirt on them. An occasionally sarcastic Zuma said his prosecution "may yield another Bosasa" where people who are thought to be holy might be implicated.
He insisted that he cannot be prosecuted as he has done nothing wrong, claiming that this case is politically motivated.
Zuma also told his supporters that he would survive this trial despite the odds stacked up against him.