A group of KwaZulu-Natal lawyers, academics and businessmen have pledged their support for embattled former deputy president Jacob Zuma and declared they would defend him against "unfair treatment".

More than 30 professionals, mainly lawyers from Durban, Pietermaritzburg and Richards Bay, and academics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, met with Zuma at his Nkandla homestead on Sunday afternoon.

The meeting, which lasted about two hours, took place amid the looming criminal trial against Zuma. He is facing two charges of corruption and a rape charge.

Comfort Ngidi, a Durban-based attorney and representative of the group, said the main aim of the meeting was to alert Zuma that they would "always stand by him".

"The majority of people who were here are lawyers who hold a view that there were certain things which were not held properly in terms of our legal system, and they felt this needs to be expressed to Msholozi (Zuma)," Ngidi said.

"We're thinking of (forming) some pressure group to say our leaders in general should be getting fair treatment from all of us. There is a trend not to treat our leaders fairly in a number of areas," he said.

He said although they had not thrashed out specific activities, they were already thinking of embarking on advocacy campaigns.

Zuma said their efforts would contribute towards strengthening democracy.

"I believe that what has gone wrong has put our democracy to a very serious test and, also, it is a very big challenge to professionals as to what their views are, because we don't have one view (about this case).

"People should engage... to ensure our democracy is able to defend itself and protect itself. I believe that they have been genuinely moved by what has happened (to me)," Zuma said.

"They (should find out) what remedies can we find where they believe things have not gone right," Zuma told Independent Newspapers.

He said it would be a sad day if professionals were not playing a central role in the country's democratic process.

"Professionals are in a better position to say what they think should be done," Zuma said.

With acknowledgements to Moshoeshoe Monare and the Daily News.