The Bloemfontein Court of Appeal denied Jacob Zuma an application for leave to appeal without even hearing his legal representatives.
Appellate judges Xola Petse and Clive Plasket ruled this week that Zuma and Thales’s applications are being rejected.
There is no other reason why the appeal should be heard by the appeals court, the two appellate judges found.
Zuma allegedly received bribes of R4m in a R51bn arms deal while he was deputy president.
One of the charges is that Zuma received R500 000 a year via Schabir Shaik, his then financial advisor, to protect a Thales subsidiary.
Zuma and Thales deny the charges.
In his application, Zuma said he was prejudiced to be tried for years after Shaik’s trial for corruption, fraud and robbery.
Judge Dhaya Pillay issued a warrant for Zuma’s arrest in February when he did not appear in court regarding the same case. The warrant is being held until May when he is due to appear again in court.
