French defence firm Thales said on Tuesday it would ask South Africa’s highest court for permission to appeal an October ruling dismissing its request to have charges that it bribed former President Jacob Zuma permanently dropped. Thales is accused of agreeing to pay Zuma 500,000 rand ($34,000) annually for protection from an investigation into a $2 billion arms deal in 1999. The charges against Thales and Zuma were originally filed a decade ago but then set aside by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), paving the way for Zuma to successfully run for president in 2009.