The National Prosecuting Authority and Zuma’s lawyers wanted leave to appeal the court’s ruling on April 29 that the decision to discontinue the prosecution against Zuma on 783 corruption charges should be reviewed and set aside.

Judge Aubrey Ledwaba said then-NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe acted irrationally after coming under pressure.

Hilton Epstein, for the NPA, argued before the court earlier this month that Mpshe would have acted in bad faith if he had continued the prosecution, knowing there had been an abuse of the prosecutorial process.

On April 6, 2009, then NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe said transcripts of telephone conversations between then-Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy and former NPA boss Bulelani Ngcuka showed political interference in the decision to charge Zuma.

The charges were withdrawn in the High Court in Durban on April 7, 2009. DM

Photo: President Jacob Zuma (Reuters)