Deputy President Jacob Zuma has continued with his job as SA's trump card in facilitating peace initiatives in Africa enjoying a welcome breather from controversies raging back home.

A breakthrough in Burundi's crisis was achieved on Wednesday, sealed with the signing of a peace agreement facilitated by Zuma. He is currently on an official visit to Sweden.

But Zuma continues to feature prominently in the fallout from the arms deal scandal which has taken a nasty turn.

Scorpions' boss Bulelani Ngcuka, Zuma's enemy, has come under fresh attack from City Press editor Vusi Mona and mining magnate Brett Kebble for abusing his office.

Since he has not been directly linked to any of the people who have made the latest allegations against the head of public prosecutions, those who are close to Zuma in the African National Congress say that this is further proof of his innocence.

Sources say this is the basis on which the party's Gauteng structure has nominated him to serve another term of office as deputy president.

Zuma has proved to be a shrewd politician outmanoeuvring his detractors. With a father who died at the end of the Second World War, it is still a puzzle how Zuma dug himself out of poverty. He did not receive any formal schooling and a family member, who was a trade unionist, persuaded him to became involved in politics while young.

He spent his childhood moving between Zululand and the suburbs of Durban, and by age 15 took on odd jobs to supplement his mother's meagre income. He joined the ANC in 1959 and became an active member of Umkhonto We Sizwe in 1962, following the banning of the ANC in 1960. Zuma soon commanded respect and trust among his colleagues leading to his move up through the ranks until the unbanning of the ANC, which led to his rise to the deputy presidency.

Even in exile, Zuma was one of the few leaders of the armed struggle whose name was excluded from the group accused of having abused their powers and tortured MK soldiers.

In fact, some former MK soldiers credit Zuma's timely and successful intervention as having saved their lives after they were wrongly accused of being spies.

The respect he commands within the leadership of the party is believed to be linked to his deep understanding of the thinking of his colleagues in the national executive committee.

Since some of his graduates were incorporated into the South African Secret Service and the National Intelligence Agency, rumours are that those who once tried to challenge his bid for the deputy presidency in 1995, such as former Mpumalanga premier Mathews Phosa, ended up withdrawing from the race out of fear that he knew the secrets of just about everyone in the party.

Zuma's successful bid for the deputy presidency of both the ANC and the country could be easily be mistaken for his having access to secret information on his opponents and to his political talent.

But even with allegations that he attempted to secure a bribe of R500000 a year from French defence giant Thomson-CSF, he has not lost favour among the most influential party structures.

The ANC Youth League and the Women's League have defended his integrity, and openly reaffirmed their support for his place in the list of nominees for the national assembly.

Zuma has denied the allegations of corruption saying they are baseless and mischievous. He has repeatedly asked Ngcuka to reverse his decision and prosecute him to enable him the opportunity to clear his name.

This week the party's most powerful province, Gauteng, pledged its unqualified support by placing him on the list.

By releasing its list, other provinces are likely to add his name to their lists. The list has also signalled that party members have not lost their faith and trust in Zuma after Ngcuka's decision not to prosecute him.

They also do not seem bothered by the revelations that he has little understanding of business and financial matters and that friend and advisor Schabir Shaik faces charges of financial complicity on his behalf.

Zuma remains an enigma, a quiet and silent man, who seems to survive the mudslinging and the criticism.

With acknowledgements to Hopewell Radebe and the Business Day.