African National Congress president Jacob Zuma will hear on September 12 whether his bid to have the decision to prosecute him declared unlawful has been successful.

Judge Chris Nicholson announced that he had reserved argument after hearing argument from both the state and Zuma's legal team.

Nicholson said that the provisional date for Zuma to stand trial was December 8, but that the dates for trial would be deliberated on August 15.

There was nothing wrong with the decision to re-charge ruling party leader Jacob Zuma with fraud and corruption, the Pietermaritzburg High Court heard on Tuesday.

State advocate Wim Trengove, SC, told the court that the decision by National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) acting head Mokotedi Mpshe to charge Zuma in 2007 should be viewed independently from the move to charge him in 2005.

"The current decision [by Mpshe] was a decision that was taken on a clean slate," Trengove told Nicholson in the state's opposition of Zuma's bid to have the decision to prosecute him declared unlawful.

Zuma faces a charge of racketeering, four charges of corruption, a charge of money laundering and 12 charges of fraud related to a multi-billion rand arms government arms deal.

Zuma was charged in 2005 but that case was struck from the role in 2006. He was re-charged in 2007.

His lawyers are saying the charges should be dropped because the state did not offer him the opportunity to make representations when it decided to charge him again. The Zuma camp argues that the constitution guarantees the right to make representations when the NPA reverses a decision.

But Trengove told the court that Zuma should not even argue about the decision to charge him in 2005, because that case was scrapped from the role.

He quoted a recent Constitutional Court ruling to back up this statement, but was questioned about it by the judge.

Trengove replied that this view came from Constitutional Court judges, to which Nicholson replied: "And far be it for me to challenge people on such Olympian heights."

Zuma made a low-key arrival at the court just before 10am on Tuesday, smiling and glancing at his watch as bodyguards accompanied him into court.

Some 20 photographers and fewer television cameras than Monday snapped pictures of him wearing a grey suit and silver tie.

Outside the court, supporters started arriving in small groups under the close watch of armed policemen.