Former president Jacob Zuma's lawyers have filed papers at the Pretoria high court to challenge deputy chief justice Raymond Zondo's refusal to recuse himself as chair of the state capture commission.

A notice of motion seen by TimesLIVE on Tuesday shows that Zuma's legal team wants to review and set aside Zondo's decision not to recuse himself from “presiding over those issues that pertain to the applicant [Zuma] and his family”.

The papers give Zondo and the commission 15 days to state whether they will oppose the application, and then a further 15 days to file a responding affidavit.

The notice of motion was filed on Monday December 14, the same day that Zuma's lawyers filed papers with the Constitutional Court saying the former president would not appear before it in a matter that seeks to have him forced to testify at the commission.

This is the latest in a running battle between Zuma and Zondo.

The former president has called on Zondo to recuse himself as state capture commission chair, stating that he was biased and because the pair had a close family connection. Zondo has disputed that claim, and has refused to step down as commission chair.

TimesLIVE