The bruising Scorpions investigation of Deputy President Jacob Zuma is tearing the ANC apart.

Leaders approached by The Star yesterday expressed conflicting views on how the probe had been handled and its possible impact on the party.

The Scorpions are investigating allegations that Zuma solicited a R500 000 bribe from one of the successful bidders in the multibillion-rand arms deal.

Some said that in the "unlikely event that Zuma could indeed have solicited the bribe, he did not deserve the shenanigans" being meted out by the elite investigation unit and its head Bulelani Ngcuka.

Others said there could not be laws or procedures that applied to ordinary people and some that applied only to a select few.

Earlier, President Thabo Mbeki refused to take sides on the divisive matter.

But the president, in response to a question on the continued turf war between the police and the Scorpions, did say the Scorpions could easily be incorporated into the SA Police Service. This view, and its timing, has fuelled speculation that Ngcuka might have to look for a new job soon.

ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe criticised the "Hollywood theatrics" of the Scorpions, a view believed to echo what many in the top echelons of the ruling party feel about the Zuma probe.

Some of those who spoke to The Star yesterday, on condition of anonymity, said Ngcuka did not have to "rubbish" Zuma.

"The matter should have been handled in a more civilised manner. Now the name of the ANC is being dragged through the mud. The entire country is on trial and a subject of ridicule internationally.

"Some who do not believe blacks are capable of leading say: 'Here is another example of black failure' . It's not deserved. Ngcuka, as a member of the party, knows that the matter could have been handled better," said one.

Another source at Luthuli House, the ANC's headquarters, said it must be remembered that the ANC was a contested terrain and that contending forces were likely to use any means available to them to discredit internal opponents.

"If you touch the presidency, you touch the nerve centre of the party," said the source. "This, coming as it does with less than a year to the general election, will be found insulting to most loyal cadres of the party. It undermines the work we are doing to prepare for elections. It's in bad taste."

The source said people were trying to position themselves for the post of deputy president because, in their view, whoever ascends to that post after next year's election would, in all likelihood, succeed Mbeki in 2009.

As a result, daggers had been drawn.

Others felt that Zuma, like any other citizen suspected of wrongdoing, must be subjected to intensive investigation and interrogation. If it were found that he had indeed solicited a bribe, he had to be bundled into jail - the law was applicable to all, they said.

"It's not Ngcuka's work to protect party leaders implicated in wrongdoing. Ngcuka must seek the truth, no matter how long it takes. If Zuma is innocent, Ngcuka must later say so, and if there is reasonable grounds for arrest, so be it."

Professor Susan Booysen, a political commentator at the University of Port Elizabeth, said it was inevitable that the intensity of actions and reactions would divide the huge party down the middle.

She said the best way to deal with such a crisis was to seek the truth as speedily as possible.

Booysen also expressed alarm at the ANC's sudden disdain over "Hollywood theatrics", saying that, on the contrary, it was these "theatrics" that had earned the ANC favour with the grassroots, who now believed the party was not soft on corruption and crime.

With acknowledgements to Makhudu Sefara and The Star.