South Africa's top prosecutors and former politicians rejected claims by Jacob Zuma, South Africa's former deputy president, that his corruption trial is part of a political conspiracy.

Affidavits filed with the South Africa's High Court by former Justice Minister, Penuell Maduna, former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, and the current heads of that department, Vusi Pikoli and Leonard McCarthy said the claims were incorrect. Michael Hulley, Zuma's lawyer, said a response will be filed with the court by Aug. 21.

“I reject these allegations in unequivocal terms,” Maduna said in his affidavit, a copy of which was posted on the website of Johannesburg's Business Day newspaper.

“The accused No. 1 has put up no facts upon which such a serious allegation could reasonably have been founded, but has chosen instead to rely on rumors, press reports, speculation and innuendo.”

Zuma, 64, is accused of trying to secure a bribe from the local unit of Thales SA, Europe's biggest military electronics maker, in exchange for helping the company win government arms contracts. The former deputy president, a leading contender to succeed Thabo Mbeki as president in 2009, denies any wrongdoing, and says the charges are politically motivated.

Zuma is due to appear in court on Sept. 5 when an application by the state to delay the case will be considered.

South Africa's ruling African National Congress will choose a new leader in December next year, and the winner is likely to become president of the nation when Mbeki steps down after a maximum two terms in 2009. The outcome of the case may determine whether Zuma, who has the backing of many labuor unionists, remains in the running.

Johannesburg's Star newspaper led with the headline 'Zuma under fire' today while Business Day's article was headlined 'State calls big guns to stare down Zuma'.

Ngcuka, the husband of Zuma's replacement Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, quit in July 2004 after saying the year earlier that “there was a prima facie case of corruption” against Zuma. He was later accused of being a spy for the apartheid regime, an allegation of which he was cleared after a government investigation.

“The news that the investigation team had uncovered evidence implicating the deputy president in corruption came as an unpleasant revelation to me,” he said in his affidavit. “The decisions which I was subsequently forced to make were difficult, unpleasant and taken at great personal cost to myself and my family.”