Jacob Zuma delays Zondo showing

Former president Jacob Zuma is expected to appear before the state capture inquiry for the second time next month.

In a short announcement yesterday, the commission's chairperson, deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo, said Zuma's second-round of testimony had been set down for five days, from November 11 to 15.

He said Zuma had been expected to appear before the commission next week, but his lawyers said they were now busy with legal matters arising from the recent Pietermaritzburg high court decision dismissing the former president's application for a permanent stay of prosecution in his corruption case.

It appears the commission has not yet set down witnesses to take the stand in Zuma's absence next week. Zondo said the commission may only resume on October 28, should no witnesses be scheduled.

Zuma first appeared before the commission in July.

In a statement after Zondo's announcement, the commission said Zuma had agreed to appear before the commission in November.

Meanwhile, the keyword #ZondoCommission came out tops as the 2019 South African word of the year, the Pan South African Language Board (PanSALB) said.

It beat gender-based violence and amapiano, which both made the shortlist.

PanSALB said Zondo commission, a judicial commission of inquiry instituted by then president Zuma in January last year to investigate allegations of state capture, was used as a keyword 30,775 times.

Gender-based violence, which received the most coverage in August when there was a surge in murders and sexual crimes against women, was used 18,973 times.

"The keyword's rise in coverage is indicative of the topic demanding urgent attention from governing authorities in South Africa," PanSALB said.

"Protests, campaigns, and online social media posts fuelled the conversation further - with online coverage accounting for 55% of the total volume."

Amapiano, the new house music genre which has a mixture of deep house, gqom and soulful piano sounds, was a most-talked-about online topic this year with 2,687 clippings.