Zuma absent at Sona‚ but Mbeki and De Klerk show up

Former President Jacob Zuma on Friday snubbed President Cyril Ramaphosa's first state of the nation address.

Zuma's absence at the Sona was conspicuous inside the National Assembly chamber‚ despite him being invited to attend - like all other former presidents of the country.

Zuma was not the only former president who is not attending the event as Kgalema Motlanthe was also not seen inside the public gallery at 7pm on Wednesday. But Thabo Mbeki and FW de Klerk honoured the invitation.

Anglican church Archbishop Thabo Makgoba was also among the eminent persons attending the Sona.

During his repeated calls for Zuma to step down‚ the Archbishop of Cape Town had previously stated that he would boycott all public events where Zuma had been scheduled to speak.

Also present were former National Assembly speakers Frene Ginwala and Max Sisulu.