South Africans may know before the end of the year if ANC President Jacob Zuma will be recharged on fraud, money laundering, corruption and racketeering charges.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that a date has been set for the appeal of the watershed judgment of Judge Chris Nicholson, who ruled on September 12 that the decision to prosecute Zuma had been invalid because Zuma had not been afforded a hearing.

The NPA filed its heads of argument on Monday, calling for the Nicholson judgment to be scrapped.

Nicholson had also suggested that political interference had driven the prosecution of Zuma - a suggestion that provided the catalyst the ANC needed to remove former president Thabo Mbeki from his position.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Tlali Tlali said the NPA wanted the hearing to take place as soon as possible. It was also confirmed that the matter will be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal on November 28 - the last court day of the year.

It is widely believed that Zuma will be recharged if the Appeal Court agreed.

While it is possible that the Supreme Court judges could deliver a judgment before the end of the year, the likelihood of this happening would decrease if there was disagreement among the judges.

The country would then have to wait until after the New Year to hear whether the man tipped to become its president within months would return to court.

In its arguments against the Nicholson judgment, the NPA called the court's rulings flawed, incorrect and irrelevant.

Zuma had not been entitled to a procedural benefit of being afforded a hearing before being charged, and findings of political interference were flawed, the NPA said.

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With acknowledgements to Ella Smook and Cape Argus.