The Scorpions have handed Deputy President Jacob Zuma a poisoned chalice, declining to prosecute him despite having found prima facie evidence of corruption against him and leaving a cloud over his political future.

The decision to let South Africa's second most powerful man off the hook for allegedly taking bribes from would-be defence contractors in the arms deal has drawn howls of outrage from opposition parties. They say the move is a political one which undermines the course of justice.

Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille, who was marched out of parliament when she first raised allegations around the controversial arms deal, was shocked by the announcement.

"Whew, these people are messing up the legal system," De Lille said. "This whole thing was predictable. One suspected all along that things would turn up this way. I really think the judicial system has been dealt a severe blow."

"The legal system should be above politics and not the other way round."

National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka said yesterday the investigating team had recommended that Zuma be prosecuted. But after a "dispassionate" consideration of the facts and consultation with senior counsel, the directorate concluded that while there was a prima facie case of corruption against Zuma, the prospects of success were slim.

"I would be failing the constitution and the people of our country as the national director of public prosecutions if I were to rush headlong into prosecution simply to prove a point. This is not the time for point-scoring. I have to put the interests of the country above personal displeasure," Ngcuka said.

Ngcuka, however, said the team would charge Zuma's financial advisor Schabir Shaik with various counts of corruption, fraud, theft of company assets, tax evasion and reckless trading. The Nkobi group of companies and Thomson CSF would be prosecuted for contraventions. Evidence against Alain Thetard, Perrier and international companies like Thomson would be referred to the French authorities to take appropriate action.

The team would refer the issue around declaration of gifts and donations received by Zuma to parliament for consideration.

He said if any evidence surfaced against Zuma during the trial of Shaik and the decision of French authorities, they could still charge him with corruption.

The Scorpions were investigating allegations of fraud and corruption in respect of certain contracts and subcontracts, an alleged attempt by Zuma to solicit a bribe from Thomson, alleged financial benefits from Shaik and or the Nkobi group and the undue use of public office to advance the private business interests of the Nkobi Group and or Shaik.

Ngcuka said the reason they did not have a winnable case against Zuma was that they did not have witness testimony against him. Their case was based on circumstantial evidence. There were letters written about him, but they did not have a letter written by him.

Also the Scorpions were waiting for the French authorities to respond to a request they sent earlier this year regarding legal assistance in the investigation.

Ngcuka said in a criminal prosecution they looked at prima facie evidence, chances of reasonable success and the public interest. It would be wrong to prosecute a case when there was doubt about the chances of success. If they were to launch a prosecution, it would not be finalised in 12 months, leaving the country and the government in a state of paralysis.

Ngcuka said the two-year investigation had been one of the most difficult that National Prosecuting Authority had undertaken.

He said details of the investigation report would not be released publicly, as to do so might compromise the prosecution of Shaik, the Nkobi group and Thomson CSF.

Ngcuka stressed that the report explained "why we acted in the way we did, (and) what led to the investigations". He hoped that it would "put the investigation into perspective in view of media distortions, disinformation campaigns and criticism".

Ngcuka said that from the outset his organisation had been concerned about ensuring that the investigation was carried out "as discreetly as possible," mindful of the "harm or prejudice the media might cause both to the integrity of the investigation itself and the credibility of the deputy president" if the investigation was made public.

He said that in trying to balance a thorough investigation with according Zuma "the deference due to his office", the prosecuting authority had taken a number of unusual steps. These included not referring specifically to Zuma when crafting the authorisation for the investigation, excluding Zuma's property and premises from searches and avoiding any reference to him in their application for a search warrant. Instead, the phrase "a high ranking government official, called Mr X", was used.

No information about Zuma had been made public by the investigating team, Ngcuka said. Zuma's identity was "deliberately disclosed" by Shaik in his second application to the Durban High Court. He said the authority had immediately written to justice minister Penuell Maduna advising him to inform Zuma of this development.

They had also chosen not to subpoena Zuma after he refused to respond to a list of questions on the deal.

Maduna said he received the report of the Scorpions on Friday night and he was happy that this part of the probe had been concluded.

Asked if Zuma should resign in the light of what the Scorpions had found, Maduna said: "I do not know. He is not going to be prosecuted. Not for now."

Zuma's office could not respond at the time of going to press. The ANC, of which Zuma is also deputy president, was also not available for comment.

UDM leader General Bantu Holomisa said he was not surprised by the Scorpions' decision.

"This is a celebrated palace verdict. As far as Zuma is concerned he must understand that he cannot escape the long arm of the law."

Tony Leon, leader of the Democratic Alliance, said it was quite clear that political pressure had something to do with the final decision.

"The problem with Zuma is that there is a dark cloud that hangs over him. People are going to have strong views about this decision."

With acknowledgements to Charles Phahlane, Caroline Hooper-Box and the Sunday Argus.