Businessman and top African National Congress (ANC) leader Cyril Ramaphosa has done a sharp about-turn on his plan to mediate in the standoff between ANC politicians and national director of prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka.

After having told the Sunday Times he would become involved to broker a plea-bargaining deal involving former transport minister Mac Maharaj, Deputy President Jacob Zuma, and Zuma's financial adviser, Schabir Shaik , Ramaphosa met Ngcuka yesterday and then firmly ruled out any further involvement.

Earlier in the day, Ramaphosa's offer apparently also caught Zuma by surprise. He said he had no knowledge of the Ramaphosa initiative and commented that he was surprised that such discussions could be held when he had not yet been charged.

"This further deepens my suspicions about this investigation," Zuma said.

Just hours later Ramaphosa apparently changed his mind on the matter, releasing a statement after meeting Ngcuka, saying: "I have decided not to play any role in this matter as I believe that the mechanisms, legal and otherwise, to resolve the various issues are in place."

Ramaphosa did not say who had suggested he become involved, but his mooted intervention came amid sharply deteriorating relations between Ngcuka and senior ANC figures, notably Zuma and Maharaj.

Last week Maharaj quit his post as a nonexecutive director of FirstRand, and Zuma finally answered some of the questions posed to him by the Scorpions investigative unit, which falls under Ngcuka's jurisdiction.

Both of them have been scathing of Ngcuka's investigation, which has also been criticised by the ANC.

Ramaphosa said last night: "When I was initially approached I indicated that I needed to understand what the issues were and the terms of the process before agreeing to get involved.

"I also indicated that I needed to consult with the ANC," Ramaphosa said.

Political parties were outraged by reports of the apparent ANC initiative, with the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the New National Party (NNP) saying it amounted to "political interference".

DA spokesman Hendrik Schmidt said it was grossly improper and a clear attempt by the ANC to "interfere with the independence of the National Prosecuting Authority".

NNP MP Carol Johnson said Ramaphosa had no legal standing or jurisdiction to intervene in the investigative process, or any legislative or legal authority to pleabargain on anyone's behalf. She said it was best to let the investigation run its course.

Asked to comment, advocate Gilbert Marcus SC said it was "clearly unusual" to attempt to plea bargain when the person had not yet been charged.

Marcus said plea bargains were generally negotiated by the accused or his lawyer. It was unusual to have someone outside the process conducting the negotiating.

Meanwhile, a storm is brewing in Parliament, with Ginwala "outraged" that confidential documents containing details of the financial interests of MPs who served between 1994 and 1999 have been destroyed by the ethics committee.

The matter has become of critical importance as information in those records reveals whether or not Maharaj disclosed his alleged gifts and the payments received by his wife Zarina in Parliament's register of members' interests.

An investigating team from Deloitte & Touche and attorneys Hofmeyr Herbstein & Gihwala appointed by FirstRand to probe corruption allegations against Maharaj could not confirm that the former transport minister disclosed the R328 898 that his wife, Zarina, received in terms of an agreement between her and Shaik.

This should have been disclosed in the confidential section of the register .

Parliament's ethics committee decided that section of the register should be destroyed at the end of the five-year parliamentary term in 1999 because of the lack of storage space .

But Ginwala said it had no right to do so as it was not entitled to make policy. Also, there was ample space to store it. She said she would raise the issue tomorrow at a meeting of the rules committee.

"I was surprised to learn that the documents had been destroyed," Ginwala said, adding that Maharaj had phoned her to check what was contained in the confidential part of the register and that she was unable to tell him.

With acknowledgements to Chantelle Benjamin, Linda Ensor and the Business Day.