The alarm bells are ringing and South Africans have cause to be worried. Reason? The latest development in the saga around the investigation into allegation of corruption against top politicians.

ANC heavyweight Cyril Ramaphosa has backed out of playing mediator between the Scorpions and the high-profile men that are the subject of their investigations. Ramaphosa was to negotiate a possible plea-bargain deal between the National Directorate of Prosecutions and Deputy President Jacob Zuma, businessman Schabir Shaik and former cabinet minister Mac Maharaj.

This is where the bells start to toll. What business, we ask, would Ramaphosa or any politician have in what is essentially a legal process?

We accept that Ramaphosa has withdrawn, but he should not have been in there in the first place. This is not the first time that an "emissary" has emerged. Last week, the Maharajs said an intermediate was sent to them to negotiate a deal.

There is no place in our legal system for special emissaries.

The courts remain the institution that must mediate in issues involving the law.

Also, something does not make sense here. Ramaphosa confirmed that he was asked to negotiate a plea bargain. A plea bargain assumes that parties under investigation will be charged and will accept that they committed certain offences. It is then that a deal would be struck between the prosecution and the defendants.

At the moment Zuma, Shaik and Maharaj have not been charged. They have maintained that they are innocent. If you're innocent you do not enter into a plea bargain.

It is important for our young democracy and for the ANC itself that the party, or elements of its leadership, should keep out of what is essentially an investigation by law-enforcement agencies.

If the men under the spotlight have anything to say to the prosecuting authorities, they can do that through their lawyers. It is the ANC's duty to show that our judicial system is independent of interference or influence.

With acknowledgement to The Star.