ANC leader Jacob Zuma will stand trial for corruption, prosecutors said today, casting doubt on his chance of becoming South Africa's president.
Mr Zuma was elected leader of the ruling African National Congress last month, beating President Thabo Mbeki.
Prosecuting Zuma could deepen divisions in the party and derail his hopes of succeeding Mbeki, who must step down in 2009.
"An indictment has been issued for trial in the Pietermaritzburg High Court commencing on August 4 th, 2008," said the statement from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
"However the prosecution is ready to proceed at the earliest date on which the court may be able to accommodate this case, should the defence so wish," it said in its first public statement on the case.
Mr Zuma's lawyer Michael Hulley said on Friday the trial would begin on August 14th. He was not immediately available for comment. Mr Hulley had said Zuma was being charged with racketeering, money laundering, fraud and corruption. He said the charges were meant to smear Zuma's name, coming barely two weeks after Zuma's resounding victory to take the helm of the ANC.
The NPA said along with Zuma, it would also prosecute Thint Holdings, Southern Africa Ltd. and Thint Ltd in connection with the case. Prosecutors have previously charged Zuma with receiving bribes from the French arms firm Thint. The case was dropped but prosecutors reopened their investigation of Zuma.
The charges against Zuma are likely to deepen political uncertainty in Africa's biggest economy and fuel tension between the ANC rank-and-file backing Zuma and Mbeki's government, seen by many Zuma supporters of being behind the legal action.
The NPA denied the case was politically motivated.
"The NPA is sensitive to the controversy which this decision evokes. We are also aware of claims that the NPA is being misused to advance the political and other objectives of certain individuals. This is not so," the authority said.
"We are obliged to carry out this mandate, however unpopular it might be."
The prospect that Zuma, the frontrunner to become South Africa's next president, could be embroiled in a lengthy trial that may overlap with the next general election in 2009 could heighten investor concerns about the country's stability.
Zuma has told the BBC he would step down as ANC leader if he was found guilty in a trial. Analysts said the ANC's National Executive Committee - its top decision-making body - may need to consider an interim leader when it holds its first meeting early in the New Year.
Officials with the ANC were unavailable for comment