The National Prosecuting Authority would be "back to square one" if ANC president Jacob Zuma won a Constitutional Court application on the validity of the prosecution against him, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
"If Zuma's concourt bid succeeds, we are back to square one," said NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali outside the Pietermaritzburg High Court, where the authority, Zuma and arms company Thint's lawyers agreed to a timeline for the corruption case they face.
Two things could happen, Tlali explained. One is that the NPA could decide to invite Zuma to make representations if the Constitutional Court finds that Zuma's interpretation of Section 179 (5)d of the Constitution was correct.
This section sets out the right of a person facing prosecution to make representations to the prosecuting authority before being charged. Zuma has been arguing that the decision to prosecute him is invalid because when the authority reversed an earlier decision not to charge him, he wasn't asked to make representations.
Or, said Tlali, "They could discontinue the prosecution".
However, he added that it was too early to make these decisions because they didn't know what orders would come out of the Constitutional Court.
The justices of the Constitutional Court still had to decide whether they would hear his appeal against a Supreme Court of Appeal judgment that disagreed with Zuma's argument. This led to the charges against him being "unfrozen".
Zuma, the ANC's presidential candidate for the forthcoming election, would also make an application for a permanent stay of prosecution when he returns to the Pietermaritzburg High Court on August 25.
Thint would return to court on June 24 for the same application. - Sapa