The National Prosecuting Authority will reinstate charges of corruption, racketeering, fraud and money laundering against former president Jacob Zuma.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) director of public prosecutions Shaun Abrahams on Friday said former South African President Jacob Zuma will have his day in court on sixteen charges relating to fraud and corruption.

The charges relate to a R30-billion State arms deal in the late 1990s which saw Zuma’s former financial adviser Shabir Shaik jailed for corruption.

The NPA head said he was convinced that there were reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution of Zuma in relation to the charges.

He notified Zuma of his decision to reinstate charges through the former president’s lawyers. Abrahams said Zuma has disputed all allegations levelled against him.

Zuma will appear in the Durban High Court but the date of the first court appearance is still to be decided.

Public interest body Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution had earlier tried to get a court injunction to stop Abrahams from announcing his decision, until Abrahams’ status as NPA head was clarified by the courts.

Abrahams said he was looking forward to putting that matter to rest as soon as possible.

Zuma was indicted on 18 charges in 2007. A former NPA head, Mokotedi Mptshe, dropped the charges levelled against Zuma in 2009 and Zuma was later sworn in as President of South Africa.

Abrahams says he had appointed a team to help him make his decision to reinstate charges against  Zuma, who was ousted from power in mid-February, and revealed that their input was received on 23 February.

He thanked his team for their input.