A South African court ruling on Thursday could allow the revival of corruption charges against former Deputy President Jacob Zuma, widely considered a candidate to lead the ruling African National Congress.

The Supreme Court of Appeal upheld an appeal by prosecutors against a lower court ruling that prevented them from using documents seized from Zuma, who was accused of bribery and fraud in connection with an arms deal, and his lawyer.

The ANC is due to elect a new leader next month. President Thabo Mbeki, who fired Zuma in 2005, has hinted he will run for a third term as ANC leader despite opposition from some ANC members and leftist allies.

Supporters of Zuma, who is the ANC deputy president, have described the corruption investigation against him as a political conspiracy to prevent him from winning the ANC leadership and ultimately the presidency of the country.

His corruption case was thrown out of court last year on procedural matters, but the state had vowed to continue investigating the matter and had fought to get documents seized from houses belonging to Zuma and his lawyer into court.

A Durban High Court judge ruled in 2006 that documents obtained during the raids could not be used by prosecutors because the search warrants used by police were illegal.