Former president Jacob Zuma's private prosecution of News24 specialist legal journalist Karyn Maughan and senior State advocate Billy Downer got under way in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Monday.

The matter was adjourned to 2 February 2023, with an urgent application by Maughan to be heard in December.

Maughan's urgent application was postponed due to a conflict of interest on the part of Judge Rishi Seegobin. He did not elaborate on what these are.

Downer has launched his own application to have the private prosecution declared an abuse of court processes.

The applications by Maughan and Downer will not be joined, but are likely to be heard one after the other.

During Monday's proceedings before Judge Nkosinathi Chili, Zuma's advocate Dali Mpofu conceded that the private prosecution was "unique" and "even strange" for him as a legal practitioner. 

He said it was also "unique" because Zuma, a former president, was the private prosecutor.

Mpofu said Zuma had put down a R500 000 deposit to continue with the prosecution.

Advocate Wim Trengove SC, representing Downer, told Chili they had launched an application against the private prosecution and would ask the court to hear it.

Zuma has accused Maughan of colluding with the State to publish his medical records without his permission.

Zuma wants Maughan's urgent application to be dismissed, arguing that he was entitled to prosecute the journalist.

The charges against Maughan and Downer relate to News24's publication of an update on Zuma's medical condition.

The medical document was attached to court papers lodged at the High Court in 2021. Documents filed with the court are deemed to be public records unless a judge instructs otherwise. There was no instruction in this instance.

It didn't reveal details of Zuma's condition.

Last month, Maughan filed an urgent application asking the court to set aside Zuma's prosecution.

She argued that the summons issued against her by Zuma's legal team was a gross abuse of court processes and, therefore, should be thrown out.

She said the former president had not obtained a nolle prosequi (a Latin phrase that translates to "not wishing to prosecute") certificate from the Director of Public Prosecutions to entitle him to institute a private prosecution against her.

In addition, she said Zuma lacked standing to institute the private prosecution.

"He has no substantial and peculiar interest in the issue of the trial since he has personally suffered no injury as a consequence of the offence he alleges I have committed."