The Democratic Alliance (DA) says it is trying to speed up an application by President Jacob Zuma and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to appeal an order that might lead to corruption charges being reinstated against him, the opposition said in Cape Town on Sunday.

MP James Selfe, who is also chairperson of the Democratic Alliance's (DA's) Federal Council, said the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) asked the NPA and Zuma for oral evidence as to why they should be allowed to appeal that judgment.

However, because the NPA and Zuma made separate applications, the DA wants to consolidate the case for presentation to the SCA to avoid long delays.

This follows a full bench judgment of the Gauteng North High Court last April, and the same bench's refusal last June to grant leave to appeal to the NPA and Zuma that the decision to drop the charges be reviewed.

Dubbed the ''Spy Tapes" case,  it concerns recordings of conversations that a former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Mokotedi Mpshe, cited in 2009 as a reason to withdraw the charges of corruption that Zuma and arms company Thint/Thales faced.

The recordings purportedly showed that there was political interference in the decision to charge Zuma in the first place with regard to allegations that he received a bribe facilitated by his former financial advisor Schabir Shaik from a bidder in a multi-billion rand arms deal.

The charges against Zuma and Thint/Thales were dropped in 2009 just before Zuma was sworn in for his first term as president, but the DA is determined to see him have his day in court over the controversy.