Former South African president Jacob Zuma's fraud and corruption trial has been postponed to February 2020 for pre-trial proceedings.

Zuma briefly appeared in the KwaZulu-Natal High Court in Pietermaritzburg on Tuesday.

The court heard that Zuma's legal team intends to apply for leave to appeal last week's dismissal of the application which he and co-accused, French arms dealer Thales, lodged for a permanent stay of prosecution.

Zuma, in office from 2009-2018, had applied for a permanent stay of prosecution for alleged fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to the deal to buy European military hardware for South Africa's armed forces in the 1990s.

On Friday the Pietermaritzburg High Court dismissed the application by Zuma and his co-accused, French arms company Thales.

"Mr. Zuma elects to exercise the full extent of his constitutional rights, which includes the right to appeal (this).. decision," a lawyer for Zuma told the court.

The appeal application must be filed within 15 days of last Friday's decision.

(With input from News24)