Less than 100 African National Congress (ANC) supporters braved wet weather in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday night to attend a night vigil for party president Jacob Zuma.

By 9pm, party organisers had not completed setting up for the vigil.

There was minimal police visibility and none of the roads leading to the Pietermaritzburg High Court had been closed off.

Police and municipal officials were expected later in the night to erect crowd control barriers and cordon off a number of roads in the area.

Superintendent Henry Budhram said no incidents of violence had been reported thus far.

The party earlier said it expected at least 15 000 supporters to gather outside the court on Wednesday when the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would square up to lawyers for Zuma and arms company Thint.

The ANC election front-runner faces charges of corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering.

A successful NPA appeal

The criminal charges against Zuma were re-instated after the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in favour of an appeal by the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP).

The NDPP challenged a ruling made last year by Pietermaritzburg High Court Judge Chris Nicholson, which held that the charges against Zuma were invalid.

At the vigil, meanwhile, journalists were seen observing the ANC-clad supporters milling in and around street corners near the courthouse.

Some supporters said they believed the weather was to blame for the poor turnout and were confident that the number would increase "dramatically" on Wednesday.

The Young Communist League, one of Zuma's strong backers, said the ANC president would not be alone when he appeared at court.

The league's national secretary Buti Manamela accused the NPA of taking revenge on the ruling party president.

"We have consistently expressed our disgust at the continued persecution of the ANC president by malicious elements in the NPA and others seeking revenge."

"We maintain our belief that the public persecution... is nothing else but trumped up charges by the NPA, and that our country and young democracy is being held at hostage by scavengers in the NPA," he said.