Deputy President Jacob Zuma disclosed this week that he had received a response from the French company Thales (Thomson) which convinced him that Bulelani Ngcuka, the director of public prosecutions, had no basis on which to continue the investigation into allegations that Zuma had solicited a R500 000 bribe from the arms company in return for using his political influence to ensure that Thales was the successful bidder in the arms deal.

Zuma also disclosed that he had requested the public protector to investigate whether Ngcuka had not misused his public office.

Since Ngcuka's statement that there was a prima facie case of corruption against Zuma, the deputy president has been involved in an understandable quest to clear his name. He has applied to court unsuccessfully for urgent disclosure of the encrypted fax that allegedly provides the prima facie evidence that he solicited a bribe.

But Zums's decision to conduct his own investigation in another country when the Scorpions' investigation is still under way and a judicial commission is sitting to determine whether Ngcuka misused his office, is extraordinary to say the least. There were indications this week that even Zuma's many sympathisers within government were surprised at the timing of his counter-attack.

In addition to the legal implications of his move, the diplomatic fall-out could also be far-reaching. At the end of this week, President Thabo Mbeki sets off on a state visit to France that could be vital in promoting trade and investment with a key industrialised ally.

While Mbeki's office insists that the Scorpions request will not be on the agenda, there is little doubt that the French will want to know where Mbeki stands on the issue. Until know Mbeki has been at pains not to take sides but the French visit could test his insistence on impartiality in the judicial process as never before.

The French judicial authorities stand ready to allow the Scorpions to continue their probe, but await the necessary political go-ahead from the justice ministry.

France clearly does not want to get involved in an internal South African dispute on the eve of a presidential visit and has chosen to put the matter on hold until after the visit. But that is not where the Mbeki dilemma ends.

Back home he is facing growing public perception that the Hefer commission, which he appointed in a bid to contain the fall-out of the Zuma-Ngcuka feud and clear the office of the director of public prosecutions, is a waste of taxpayers' money and an opportunistic attempt to sweep political problems under the carpet.

These were the public views of a university vice-chancellor and constitutional court judge respectively. The commission has become caught between the Commissions Act of 1947, which gives ti the power to subpoena witnesses, and the regulations of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which allows the organ to protect its officials from disclosing sensitive information.

Zuma needs the NIA officials to testify to defend his name and substantiate African National Congress veteran Mac Maharaj's claim that Ngcuka had been investigated for being an apartheid spy.

The president and senior ANC officials want to keep the lid on the past spying disclosures that could tear the ruling party apart. The legal impasse is likely to be resolved only by the constitutional court - a process that could take a year or more.

All this against the backdrop of an election campaign in which the ANC has given Zuma the thumbs-up in its list conferences and the ruling party is divided as never before. Mbeki is going to have to take some though decisions in the next few weeks. Will he let the Hefer commission drag on as the party unravels, or will he devise a new political mechanism to cauterise what is now a gaping wound in the side of the ANC?

With acknowledgement to the Sunday Independent.