Former president Jacob Zuma is to appear in court on Friday on 16 corruption charges over a suspect arms deal that dogged much of his presidency before he was ousted in February.
Zuma will attend the brief preliminary hearing at the Durban High Court, ahead of a trial that could send him to jail.
Crowds of Zuma’s loyal supporters and political opponents are expected outside the court, where there will be a large police presence.
Zuma is accused of taking bribes from French arms maker Thales over a contract worth R30 billion during his time as a provincial economy minister and then deputy ANC president.
He faces one count of racketeering, two counts of corruption, one count of money laundering and 12 counts of fraud.
Thales, which supplied naval vessels as part of the deal, will also be charged with corruption and company representatives are expected to appear in court.
Zuma is accused of illicitly pocketing just over R4 million from 783 payments handled by his then financial advisor, businessman Schabir Shaik.
A key factor of the prosecution case is a fax signed by Alain Thetard, a manager at the South African affiliate of Thales, which was then called Thomson-CSF.
The fax allegedly describes the agreement with Zuma. Thales declined to comment to AFP on the case.
Zuma, who became president after the charges were first dropped in 2009, has always denied any wrongdoing.
Shaik meanwhile was sentenced to 15 years in jail in 2005 based on the same accusations. He served only two years and was released on medical parole.