The National Prosecuting Authority is attempting to climb a slippery slope at the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Judge Mahomed Navsa and his colleagues have for the first hour been drilling into the NPA's technical arguments, sometimes leaving Advocate Hilton Epstein stuttering.
Espstein argued that the timing of charging President Jacob Zuma and the serving of an indictment was about trying to manipulate the outcome of the ANC's presidential elections.
But Judge Azhar Cachalia was quick to point out that the motivation behind the prosecution was irrelevant.
The arguments were then directed to former NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe's reasoning in deciding not to prosecute Zuma.
In 2016, the North Gauteng High Court found the decision to drop charges against the president was illegal and irrational. The court set the decision aside, effectively reinstating the charges.
Zuma sought leave to appeal, but it was refused. It is the leave to appeal, and if granted, the appeal itself, that the court will hear on Thursday and Friday.