President Jacob Zuma's latest ploy to dodge accountability is beginning to unravel.
The president's legal team wants the court to scrap former public protector Thuli Madonsela's recommendations made in her State of Capture report. The recommendations compel Zuma to appoint a commission of inquiry headed by a judge appointed by Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng.
Zuma is bartering with the courts, saying only after this ruling is made will he commit to set up the inquiry.
Times Live reported that his lawyers, in responding papers filed to the Pretoria High Court on Tuesday, said: "Having announced an intention to appoint a commission of inquiry, it is recorded that the president will proclaim a commission of inquiry within 30 days of the date of this order."
Last week, Zuma's legal team abandoned their application, which asked for Madonsela's report to be sent back to the Public Protector for further investigation.
News24 reported that this resulted in Judge-President Dunstan Mlambo ordering all parties to file supplementary heads of argument explaining how the withdrawal would impact on the review application.
Responding to Mlambo's ruling instead of filing supplementary heads of argument on Tuesday, News24 said Zuma's legal counsel filed that a "just and equitable" order should be handed down by the court.
In a series of tweets, legal expert Pierre De Vos broke down Zuma's court strategy.
De Vos said in his tweets that Zuma's actions were "extremely self-serving".