The date on which ANC president Jacob Zuma's pending corruption trial is set to proceed is to be the focus of a major discussion.

KwaZulu Natal Judge President Vuka Tshabalala, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), Zuma's legal team and French arms company Thint will meet tomorrow afternoon to discuss when and how to proceed with the prosecution, which, if delayed until next year, could see Zuma sworn in as the country's president while facing criminal charges.

"Some press or media have been saying that this matter is being delayed because of me and that it was because I have not been consulted, but it's not that," Judge Tshabalala told The Star yesterday, explaining that the proposed trial date had not been settled by both the prosecution and the defence.

"They have simply not agreed and now we have one party ready to go on and the other is not," he said, referring to the NPA's insistence that they are ready for trial, Thint's hesitance to proceed and Zuma's failure to communicate.

Judge Tshabalala said the NPA had last month sent him copies of correspondence between itself and the accused parties relating to an indictment outlining the case against them, and informing them of the trial date on August 4.

"Thint wrote back to say they wouldn't be ready … because of matters before the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court that are now not yet finalised," he said.

These matters relate to a court challenge as to the legality of the NPA's search and seizure operations conducted on Zuma and Thint, as well as a pending case relating to the Scorpions extracting information from Mauritius.

Thint claimed that once these matters were finalised, they would not have enough time to prepare for the August trial.

"The NPA then responded that, irrespective of the outcomes, they will be ready to go ahead and that they will amend the indictment so that the case could go on," said Judge Tshabalala.

Thint had responded by stating they did not want to plead or ask for further particulars on charges that could be amended and asked that they be required to deal with the complete charge sheet they would be facing and not one subject to amendment.

"At the beginning of this month I responded to the NPA and said it appears that they have not agreed on a trial date and it would be difficult for me to make arrangements. They then undertook to advise Zuma and Thint to come and see me on a specific date so we can decide when this case will go on," Judge Tshabalala said, explaining how tomorrow afternoon's meeting had come about.

NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said that if no date was set tomorrow, a plan would be put in place to govern how the matter would proceed.

Zuma's legal adviser was not available for comment.

With acknowledgements to Gill Gifford and The Star.