Zuma explained to Mbeki that he could not be seen to be throwing his weight around

On Tuesday night, President Thabo Mbeki and Deputy President Jacob Zuma sat across from each other and had a heart to heart discussion. A meeting to discuss a problem in one of the provinces provided an opportunity for them talk candidly about the issue that had shaken the country this week.

The allegation that Zuma had solicited a bribe from a French beneficiary in the arms deal had caused discomfort in the presidency from when it first surfaced late last year, mostly because no one knew how to respond.

Mbeki had initially tried to be clinical about the matter, placing the onus on Zuma to explain himself. The issue festered under the cloak of uncertainty.

But on Tuesday, the President and his deputy finally talked about what had gone so wrong that their country was pushed to the precipice.

Zuma explained to Mbeki that he had reached a stage of desperation. He related how he had come to learn from the media that he had been under investigation for three years.

He told how his attorneys had tried unsuccessfully to establish in December last year, through written correspondence with the Director of the National Prosecuting Authority, Bulelani Ngcuka, whether he was a suspect in a criminal investigation. Ngcuka had dismissed his inquiry without answering the question, saying the Scorpions were not responsible for information leaked to the media, Zuma said.

Then again in May this year, his attorneys had written to Ngcuka, this time recording Zuma's bitterness at being thrashed publicly about the allegations while he was still unclear whether he was, in fact, under investigation.

He explained to Mbeki that he was in a precarious position, by virtue of his position in the government and the ANC, and could not be seen to be throwing his weight around. But he had pledged time and again to co-operate with an investigation. He had specifically asked his lawyers to state in the letter to Ngcuka that he did not expect special treatment.

Ngcuka sent a letter back confirming the investigation and asked that Zuma answer a list of questions, which were sent to his attorneys on July 9 and last weekend found their way onto the pages of the Sunday Times.

Mbeki responded in much the same way he did to questions from journalists at a briefing earlier on Tuesday. He was human, he said, and couldn't help but have an opinion on the matter. But it was dangerous for him to be seen to be leaning one way or the other.

All he wanted was for the whole messy saga to reach some conclusion.

They then agreed that Zuma needed to make his side of the story public.

Zuma informed ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe that he would issue a statement.

For some time, Mbeki and Motlanthe have been swamped with complaints about the "cowboy tactics" of Ngcuka's outfit - from the ANC national executive, police management and from members of the Cabinet.

While the unit has been highly successful in its investigations and projecting an image that corruption was being dealt with, it seemed to go out of its way to grab the spotlight.

The ANC was angered by the Scorpions tendency to announce that senior politicians were being investigated for serious crimes - for example ANC KwaZulu-Natal MECs S'bu Ndebele and Zweli Mkhize for murder and gun-running, respectively - then leave the allegations hanging years later.

Justice Minister Penuell Maduna had been mandated by the ANC's national executive to see to it that these investigations were completed because of the personal toll on those involved.

A senior ANC official said the party was also puzzled by some of Ngcuka's decisions.

For example, when Inkatha Freedom party member Phillip Powell pointed out a seven-ton arms cache in Northern KwaZulu-Natal in May 1999, Ngcuka was on the scene within hours, with a horde of journalists, and authorised the destruction of the consignment. No forensic tests were done. The destruction of the weapons made dramatic television footage but there is now no evidence that the cache existed.

He granted Powell a pseudo-amnesty - it never emerged what it was in exchange for - and the case was not referred to again despite repeated questioning from the ANC in KwaZulu-Natal.

Mbeki recently called Ngcuka and national Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi to a meeting to discuss the turf war between the police and the Scorpions, which had reached a point where they were fighting over police dockets.

Selebi has been calling for some time for the Scorpions to fold and its investigating arm to be incorporated into the police.

Mbeki's concern was that while the investigation into his deputy was pending, his hands were tied in dealing with the Scorpions. His advisers have said repeatedly that public perception had to be managed: the Scorpions should not be seen to be under political pressure due to the arms-deal investigation, let alone the allegations concerning Zuma.

But Ngcuka has been under serious heat. He has walked a tightrope on the Zuma issue, unsure how to proceed. This was a case in which he had to guarantee conviction before making an arrest.

Investigators on the case were convinced that something untoward had happened; they just didn't know how to prove it.

Ngcuka felt that he could not let the matter go without allowing the investigators sufficient time to unearth what they could on the matter.

He had, however, planned to make an announcement in July that the investigation against Zuma had proved inconclusive and was therefore being dropped. Before doing so, he was waiting for the outcome of the court bid by Zuma's financial adviser Schabir Shaik contesting the Scorpions' right to question him.

Shaik is a magnet for controversy and his insolence since the investigation began has prompted the Scorpions to hit back with equal brashness.

By last week Ngcuka again became convinced that there might be sufficient evidence to build a case.

Zuma's loyalty to the Shaik family - especially in the face of the current clamour - has puzzled many people. The relationship runs deep and in some ways Zuma is directed by his conscience.

Shaik's brother Moe worked directly under Zuma in the ANC's underground intelligence unit and Schabir would courier information between South Africa and the ANC's London headquarters. He was also involved in ANC funding-raising inside the country.

In the run-up to the Kabwe conference in 1985, the ANC instructed Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, now Zuma's political adviser, to sneak into South Africa. The Shaiks were in charge of getting him in and for his protection. Ebrahim was arrested. Zuma instructed Moe and Yunus Shaik to acts as decoys so that Ebrahim could escape.

Moe, Chippy and Yunus, along with their father, Lambie Rasool, were detained. The father suffered a stroke while in detention. When in December 1985, their mother had a heart attack and died, Yunus and Moe attended her funeral in shackles.

This week, the Shaik brothers rallied around Zuma and helped him to try to piece together the answers to the Scorpions' 35 questions.

Some in the ANC advised Zuma not to co-operate with the investigation as he had legitimate reason not to trust the Scorpions with the answers. But after his discussion with the President, Zuma went to Durban and began reconstructing the past nine years of his life.

Ironically, during this time, things fell apart for Ngcuka. He was rattled by Mbeki's statement on Tuesday that thought had been given to incorporating the Scorpions investigating division into the police. For Ngcuka, this would be the ultimate insult.

Then on Thursday, Motlanthe opened the ANC floodgates by condemning Ngcuka's "Hollywood" theatrics. He knows it is a matter of time before ANC heavies are trundled out to deal with him.

Both Zuma and Ngcuka have been severely battered by the week's events.

The question is no longer who will triumph.

It is now a matter of survival and, clearly, only one of them can.

With acknowledgements to Ranjeni Munusamy and the Sunday Times.