The fate of National Prosecuting Authority director Bulelani Ngcuka, under fire for alleged leaks from his organisation to the media, and facing criticism from the African National Congress (ANC) over the arms-deal probe, hangs in the balance this week.

Renewed rumours that Ngcuka may vacate the hot seat have resurfaced in political circles.

As well as being at the centre of a furore over the investigations into Deputy President Jacob Zuma and former transport minister Mac Maharaj, Ngcuka's Scorpions have drawn unprecedented criticism from the ANC, which he served in Parliament as an MP before taking up his post in 1998.

Political commentators said it might no longer be a question of whether Ngcuka resigns, but how he resigns.

Battle lines were drawn in the wake of the decision by the Scorpions to ask Zuma a wide-ranging set of questions relating to the arms deal.

Allegations of information being leaked in the Zuma and Maharaj investigations last week led the ANC's secretary-general, Kgalema Motlanthe, to venture that the ANC was suspicious of the Scorpions' motives.

On top of this, tension between the Scorpions and the police prompted President Thabo Mbeki to suggest recently that the investigative unit could shortly be integrated into the police service.

Ngcuka's skirmish with top ANC figures began when he went public shortly before the furore over the information leaks hit the headlines, talking about a smear campaign by "criminal comrades", which some have taken to refer to the people his unit is now investigating.

Among new allegations Ngcuka is facing is one that he has been forced to surrender a BMW 750i to the justice department, which owns it.

Scorpions' spokesman Sipho Ngwema said at the weekend that Ngcuka had sold the car to the department after it was discovered that he did not qualify for a car allowance.

The department used the car to transport Ngcuka until he decided to buy his own car in May last year.

Rumours of Ngcuka's pending resignation are not new. In July and Ngcuka dismissed as "malicious" rumours that he intended to quit and take up a directorship at De Beers.

Ngcuka, who has a 10-year contract as head of the directorate of public prosecutions, was recently quoted as saying, however, that he believed that 10 years was far too long for one person to head the unit.

Ngwema said his boss had no intention of resigning

With acknowledgement to the Business Day.