UPDATE:

Zuma will not be attending Sona, Parliament apologises for gaffe

Former president Jacob Zuma will not be attending the State of the Nation Address despite Parliament earlier stating that he would.

This is according to his law firm, Lungisani Mantsha Attorney, who on Wednesday said Parliament was incorrect to state that Zuma would be attending.

In a short statement, Lungisani Mantsha Attorneys said as far as they were concerned, Zuma was still receiving medical treatment abroad.

"We do not know how and where Parliament obtained this incorrect information. Our instructions remain that President Zuma is currently receiving medical treatment in a foreign country, and will therefore, not be attending the Sona," the law firm said.

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Former President Jacob Zuma will attend the state of the nation address on Thursday, Parliament has confirmed.

This will be Zuma’s first Sona attendance since he relinquished power in February last year.

According to Parliament, Zuma, who could not attend court for his corruption pre-trial last week due to ill health, has confirmed that he will be among the guests attending President Cyril Ramaphosa’s address.

He will be among the three former heads of state, Thabo Mbeki and Kgalema Motlanthe, who have also confirmed their attendance.

Motlanthe is already in Cape Town and attended the 30th anniversary of the release of former President Nelson Mandela from the Victor Verster prison yesterday.

Zuma’s confirmation that he will attend Sona has raised questions around authenticity of his supposed ill health as it comes just days after the Pietermaritzburg High Court rejected a sick note that his lawyers had presented as evidence and subsequently issued a suspended warrant of his arrest.

The sick note had booked Zuma off until end of April.

The warrant of arrest will be executed at Zuma's next scheduled court date in May, should he fail to appear again.