President Thabo Mbeki yesterday urged all South Africans to “allow the law to take its course”.

Mbeki’s focus on the legal process makes the point to his critics who argued that Zuma’s sacking from the cabinet last week was politically motivated since the former deputy president had not been proven guilty in a court of law.

Zuma’s supporters based their argument on the decision by former NPA head Bulelani Ngcuka two years ago to announce that he had prima facie evidence against Zuma but did not have a winnable case.

This led to Zuma being tried in all but name through the fraud and corruption case of his financial adviser, Schabir Shaik, they said.

Pikoli’s decision to inform the president about his decision regarding Zuma follows much speculation on whether Zuma would be charged this time round.

“The president was informed as a matter of courtesy, he was not asked for comment,” presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo said.

Mbeki had also been informed that Zuma had been advised of the NPA’s decision to bring corruption charges against him, Khumalo said.

The brief statement reinforces Mbeki’s view that the law has to take its course in the Zuma saga. It also suggests that the president himself has not as yet made any judgment on whether or not Zuma is guilty.

Mbeki’s statement is in line with similar sentiments expressed during his address to the joint sitting of Parliament when he sacked Zuma last week.

He made it clear that Zuma still had a lot to offer and that government would draw on his expertise when needed.

The fact that Mbeki chose to make it clear that he was informed as a “matter of courtesy” by Pikoli is also an attempt to dispel notions that the NPA head was bowing to political pressure from the executive to go after Zuma.

This perception was strengthened after it became known that Pikoli accompanied Mbeki on his state visit to Chile in the week preceding Zuma’s axing.

Political analyst Aubrey Matshiqi said that Mbeki’s statement sent a message that the NPA did not take its instructions from the executive and that the agency was acting independently.

“Mbeki is signalling that not only does the executive uphold the rule of law, but it respects the separation of the powers as well,” he said.

Mbeki has been at pains to emphasise that the legal process is paramount, and upholding the constitution and the integrity of the rule of law is government’s responsibility.

This was in sharp contrast to outbursts from the Congress of South African Trade Unions, the African National Congress Youth League and the Young Communist League, as well as grassroots supporters of Zuma, who questioned the judicial process in the Shaik trial and the NPA’s motives in linking Zuma in the way it did in the run up to the trial.

The NPA’s decision to charge Zuma has let government off the hook in some respects as the matter will now have to be settled through the courts.

A guilty verdict would see an illustrious political career end in shame; an acquittal could see Zuma reaching the highest office.

With acknowledgements to Karima Brown and the Business Day.