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Former president Jacob Zuma won't appear before the state capture commission of inquiry next week, the commission said on Thursday.
Zuma, the man at the heart of state capture claims against the Gupta family, was supposed to return to the commission on Monday.
But in a statement issued just after 12:00 on Thursday, the commission said it was informed that the former president and his legal team were unavailable "owing to circumstances relating to his criminal trial".
"The commission has taken note of this. Consequently, the former president will no longer appear before the commission next week," the statement read.
Zuma first appeared before commission chairperson, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, in July.
On Tuesday, he appeared in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg for his fraud and corruption trial. But the case was postponed to February 2020 for pre-trial proceedings.
It is unclear what Zuma and his legal team will be busy with next week which will prevent him from appearing before the commission.
The commission had previously said Zuma would also appear between 11 and 15 November this year. Its latest statement said the former president had agreed to appear on those dates and that they "still stand".
