Cape Town - Public Protector Lawrence Mushwana and President Thabo Mbeki should now act decisively to resolve the issue of Deputy President Jacob Zuma's continued fitness to remain in public office, says the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM).

In a statement on Friday, PSAM director Colm Allan said Zuma's call for the protector to investigate National Director of Public Prosections (NDPP) Bulelani Ngcuka was spurious.

"(It) is a spurious and desperate attempt to shift the focus of public attention away from corruption allegations involving himself and (his financial adviser and businessman) Schabir Shaik," Allan said in a statement.

This was so because firstly, as Zuma would know, the National Prosecuting Authority Act contained a limitation of liability for the NDPP, which indemnified him for any act taken in good faith in terms of the NPA act.

Secondly, such an investigation would constitute interference in the work of the prosecuting authority and would render the Protector liable for prosecution and a two-year sentence in terms of the act.

"The PSAM calls on the public protector and the president to act decisively to resolve the issue of Deputy President Zuma's continued fitness to remain in public office," he said.

"Both have access to the register of Cabinet members' interests.

"Consequently, both could act immediately to resolve the issue of whether Zuma received payments from Shaik's Nkobi Holdings, and whether these were declared."

If such payments were received, as the NDPP has contended, and if they were not declared, Zuma was clearly not fit to remain in office.

The continued inaction by the protector and the president would only serve to facilitate the current climate of divisive and opportunistic attacks on the integrity of South Africa's prosecuting authority, Allan said.

On Thursday, Zuma lashed out at Ngcuka, accusing him of attempting a "character assassination exercise" against him.

Zuma lodged a formal complaint with Mushwana against the way the directorate conducted its investigation against him over the past three years.

In a statement, he said his complaint focused on the abuse of power, particularly related to the manner in which the investigation was conducted, and the conclusion and the manner in which this was communicated, as well as the reported continuation of the investigation.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and News24.