Ex S. African president appears in court to face corruption charges

Former South African president Jacob Zuma appeared in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday to face corruption charges.

This was the third time that Zuma appeared in court since he stepped down in February.

On June 8, Zuma appeared in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court where his case was postponed to July 27 to allow the conclusion of a court case about state funding.

During Friday's court proceedings, Zuma's defence team was seeking a permanent stay of execution due to the length of time since the event occurred.

Prosecutor Billy Downer requested that Zuma's legal team be given one month to state their arguments as to why this should occur.

But he indicated that the state was ready to proceed with the case on November 12, as presently planned.

Zuma's attorney Mike Hellens requested until November to present their arguments.

Deputy Judge President Isaac Madondo, who presided over Friday's appearance, gave Zuma's legal team three months to prepare for his application for a permanent stay of prosecution. The application has to be filed by November 16.

The court set November 30 as Zuma criminal trial.

Hundreds of Zuma's supporters gathered outside the court, chanting support for Zuma.

Zuma is facing 16 charges of corruption, racketeering and money-laundering in relation to an arms deal worth 2.5 billion U.S. dollars with French arms maker Thales in the late 1990s when Zuma was a provincial economy minister and deputy African National Congress (ANC) president.

Zuma is accused of taking a bribe from the French company through his financial advisor Shabir Shaik at that time. But Zuma has denied any wrongdoing in the deal.