JOHANNESBURG, South Africa -                 Former South African president, Jacob Zuma will on Monday make a much-anticipated appearance before an inquiry into alleged corruption after previous witnesses gave damning evidence against him.

Zuma is accused of overseeing mass looting of state funds during his nine-year reign before he was ousted in 2018 by the ruling ANC party and replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa.

The 77-year-old ex-president has denied all wrongdoing, and his lawyers have described the inquiry as an attempt to “ambush and humiliate” him.

Zuma, who is not legally required to appear, agreed to attend for up to five days this week, though it is unclear if he will cooperate with any cross-examination.

His request to see the questions in advance was denied by the inquiry commission, which is probing the corruption scandal known as “state capture”.

“In all honesty, the commission asked me to come to testify and put forward any information that I might have, “Zuma said on Friday, ahead of the televised hearings.

“We will see how things pan out, but I am going there.”

The inquiry commission said last month that Zuma was invited to appear “to enable him give his side of the story”.

The probe is investigating a web of deals involving government officials, the wealthy Gupta family and state-owned companies.

According to one witness at the commission, Zuma allegedly accepted a monthly $2,200 bribe delivered in luxury bags from a security firm that was trying to evade police investigation.

Former finance minister Nhlanhla Nene, who was sacked by Zuma in 2015, testified that Zuma pushed policies on nuclear power and aviation that were designed to benefit the Gupta family.

While the Gupta brothers are accused of fraudulently profiting from vast government contracts including energy and transport deals under Zuma.

Zuma has also been charged with 16 counts of graft linked to an arm deal from before he became president.