Jacob Zuma kicked off his latest round of court battles with the national prosecuting authority with an unreserved apology to the state.

But, while accepting Zuma's apology for falsely accusing the state of "having a cavalier attitude" this morning, state advocate, Billy Downer, slammed the "campaign of invective" which he said was being directed at the state by Zuma's legal team.

"This campaign is nothing new … but the build up of invectives affects our work and it cannot be allowed to continue," he said.

Zuma's legal team will today try to convince Judge Willem van der Merwe the same judge who acquitted the former deputy president of rape that he should be allowed to intervene in the state's successful application to investigate his financial dealings in the United Kingdom.

The information sought by the state is understood to relate to the means by which Zuma was allegedly paid a R500 000 bribe by French arms company Thint.

But before Zuma's counsel Kemp J Kemp SC could begin arguing he told Van der Merwe that Zuma's legal team had to "unreservedly apologise" and withdraw their claims of tardiness against the state.

It emerged this morning that the state was also planning to apply for certain claims made by Zuma in court documents to be "struck out".

These claims are believed to relate to Zuma's suggestions that the state's investigations against him were engineered to thwart his political ambitions.

Kemp however began Zuma's application by trying to prove that Zuma actually had the right to come to court in the first place.

Denying the state's claim that it could request information about Zuma's financial dealings because there were no longer criminal procedures pending against him, Kemp said it was obvious that Zuma was the target of the investigation and had a direct interest in it.

The main purpose of the information sought, Kemp said, was to "try and link Mr Zuma to improper payments for the purposes of prosecution".

The hearing continues.

With acknowledgements to Karyn Maughan and The Star.