African National Congress deputy president Jacob Zuma will apply to the Pretoria High Court on Thursday to stop the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) from extending an investigation to the United Kingdom.

At the end of March, the NDPP brought an ex-parte application for permission to approach banks and solicitors in the United Kingdom with a view to the possible reinstating of fraud and corruption charges against Zuma. Zuma only became aware of the application after Judge Ben du Plessis ratified a letter of request, from head of the NDPP Leonard McCarthy, for international assistance.

Zuma filed an affidavit, signed in May, asking the Pretoria High Court to set aside the ratification. The case was enrolled to be heard on Thursday. Zuma said in his affidavit to the he was never informed about the application and only learned about it when a journalist approached him.

Had he known about the application, he would have opposed it. McCarthy wants the assistance of the manager of Barclays Bank in London, where the account of solicitors Berwin Leighton Paisner is held.

He also wants to approach the solicitors about details of a payment made in August 2001 from their bank account to an entity in South Africa named Cay Nominees. "There are some indications that the payment may in fact be linked to Thomson/Thales [Thint] and their undertaking to pay Zuma R500 000 per annum as a bribe," McCarthy said in his letter. "If so, it appears that Berwin Leighton Paisner's account was used to launder the payment of money from Thomson/Thales to Zuma," he said. French arms manufacturer Thint has previously been known as Thomson CSF and Thales. -- Sapa

With acknowledgements to Sapa and Mail and Guardian.