WATCH: NPA says court cannot reinstate 783 charges against Zuma
The National Prosecuting Authority has told the High Court in Pretoria on Tuesday that the court could not reinstate charges against President Jacob Zuma.
The NPA said it could only find that not prosecuting him earlier to have been unlawful.
The NPA started arguing their case in the DA's application to review the decision by the National Director of Public Prosecutions, to discontinue the prosecution of the President on charges of corruption, racketeering and fraud.
The DA earlier argued the decision to withdraw the corruption charges against President Jacob Zuma in 2009 should be overturned.
The matter relates to the recordings between National Prosecuting Authority boss Bulelani Ngcuka and Scorpions head Leonard McCarthy.
The tapes seemingly show Ngcuka and McCarthy colluded on the timing of Zuma's indictment to influence the outcome of the ANC's 2007 elective conference in Polokwane.
The DA's legal counsel, Sean Rosenberg, has been focussing on the rationale of then National Director of Public Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe's decision to scrap the charges.
He said they felt prosecution was inevitable after Shabir Shaik was convicted, but still the decision was made to withdraw the charges due to an apparent abuse of process.
Rosenberg said, even if there was a decisive delay in indicting Zuma, it probably counted in his favour.
Maryke Vermaak reports from the North Gauteng High Court...
The case will resume at 10.00am on Wednesday.
Edited by Suné du Toit