Following President Thabo Mbeki's rejection of a request for the Hefer Commission to investigate allegations that Deputy President Jacob Zuma was involved in corruption relating to the arms deal, DA leader Tony Leon last weekend accused Mbeki of deliberately dodging the investigation of allegations of corruption at the highest levels of the ANC government.

"It is clear that the president is trying to pretend that the problem does not exist," Leon said, adding that Mbeki's "passivity and weakness" will "leave the country mired in doubt and suspicion for months to come".

Even if one takes Leon's vehemence with a pinch of salt - political parties are, after all, gearing up for next year's elections, and everyone's out to score points - what he says makes sense. Is Mbeki misguidedly trying to protect Zuma? If so, why? What does he know about the deputy president that we don't? Does he not realise that if the probe is not extended to include Zuma, there will continue to be doubts about him, and that these suspicions will taint his integrity permanently in the eyes of the electorate? Surely it's in Mbeki's own interest to have his deputy exonerated?

Or - as conspiracy theorists and those with a Machiavellian turn of mind will already be asking - is there a possibility that, in view of current and impending power struggles with the ANC, Mbeki would actually prefer Zuma to remain under a cloud, effectively eliminating him as heir apparent to the presidency? If so, "deviousness" might better be applied to Mbeki than the "passivity and weakness" cited by Leon. And, since the president is going against his own much-vaunted commitment to transparency and democratic equality under the law, it may not be long before people begin to ask just how clean his own hands are.

In short, whether or not there's any truth in the allegations against Zuma, the suspicions and rumours generated by Mbeki's ducking and diving on the issue could be highly dangerous for the ANC leadership, for the party and for the country at large.

With acknowledgement to The Natal Witness.