Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini and millions of Zulus will know on Friday morning whether the Ukweshwama ceremony, which includes the slaughtering of a bull with bare hands, will go ahead on Saturday as planned.

The judgment on the application brought by the Animal Rights Africa (ARA) was reserved until Friday morning by the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Tuesday.

ARA took the Zulu king, KwaZulu-Natal Premier Zweli Mkhize and three government departments to court, arguing that the manner in which bulls were killed during the ritual was cruel.

Earlier on Tuesday, Judge Nic van der Reyden proposed that all the affected parties sit down and consider the use of a video during the ritual so that it would be established if the killing was cruel.

The proposal was turned down by the respondents and the lawyers had to continue presenting their arguments after lunch.

"I suggest that all parties sit down and agree whether video footage can be taken during the ritual so that this matter can be handled by Parliament," the said judge said before his proposal was rejected.

He said it was difficult for him to rule on the matter, saying that the bull killing ritual went to the heart of Zulu tradition.

The judge said he was not trying to dodge making a ruling but it would be suitable for Parliament to deal with the matter if evidence was found that the bull was killed in a cruel manner.

A bull is killed during Ukweshwama as a symbolic way of thanking God for the first crops of the season.

The judge likened the stopping of the bull killing to ordering Catholics to stop eating the Holy Communion.

He said the issue of bull killing needed to be looked at in a proper context, saying he believed it was not done by crazy people.

"This has been done for years. It is done by the Zulus who constitute the biggest population in this country. There are about ten-million Zulus in this country," he said.

He said many young Xhosa men died every year during circumcision rituals but the ritual was not stopped because it was important to the Xhosas.

The judge asked the applicant's lawyer Michael Smithers if he thought Parliament was not aware of the bull killing ritual.

Smithers said he was not sure if Parliament was aware.

"Are you telling me that the President [Jacob Zuma] is not aware? He is Zulu. He must be aware of this." The judge said his understanding was that by killing the bull, the Zulus believed they were transferring power to their king.

"If I rule that the bull should not be killed it means that the power will not be transferred to the king. Let's say the king is struck by lightning after the ruling, people will say it is because I have interrupted their ritual," said the judge.

He described the Zulus as a proud nation with a very rich history.

"They are a very proud nation. The British lost their battles to the Zulus." Smithers argued that his clients had tried several times to engage the king and government on the issue of bull killing.

"The matter was taken to court after my clients failed several times to get an opportunity to discuss this matter," said Smithers.

He said the information and pictures they had showed that the bull was killed in a cruel manner.

"It is clear that the animal is not killed quickly and it endures a lot of pain," he said.

The article published in the African National Congress website showed that the killing of the bull took more than 40 minutes.

The respondents' lawyer, senior counsel Singh, said it was not true that Zulus treated animals in a cruel manner.

"It is not their culture to ill-treat animals. Ukweshwama is not aimed at harming animals but for religious purposes."

He said the Ukweshwama would be meaningless without the killing of the bull.

Singh questioned why the animal organisation was not raising concerns about sport fishing which saw fish painfully hooked and released back to the water.

"The Zulus are not the only ones who kill animals. Certain Jewish customs include slaughtering. How many rituals will be targeted if the court stops the bull killing?"

The court proceedings were attended by scores of members of the Zulu royal family including King Goodwill Zwelithini's brother Prince Mbonisi Zulu and senior Prince Reggie Zulu.

The case, which has attracted much media attention, was also attended by Zulu culture experts including a team of Zulu scholars and members of the KwaZulu-Natal legislature.

The courtroom was packed with people wearing Zulu attire.

The authorities decided to use a bigger court to accommodate the scores of people interested in the case. This was the same court where Zuma's corruption trial was held.