Johannesburg - President Thabo Mbeki has dealt a heavy blow to the pro-Zuma lobby by getting Jacob Zuma to commit to observing the rule of law and to support the commission to probe allegations of a political conspiracy to prevent Zuma from becoming president.

Zuma's supporters - which include Cosatu - are opposed to the commission. They have called on Mbeki to intervene and stop the corruption trial against Zuma.

At the ANC national executive committee (NEC) meeting that ended on Saturday, Mbeki and Zuma made a powerful joint statement in a well-crafted move to heal the widening rift between them.

Through the statement, Zuma committed himself to respect the rule of law and to distance himself from those calling for charges to be dropped against him.

City Press can reveal that the joint presentation was the result of a process that began on Sunday evening when Mbeki invited Zuma to a one-on-one meeting in Tshwane before the national working committee gathering on Monday.

The two had apparently worked on the joint statement several days before the NEC meeting on Friday.

An NEC member said: "The fact that the two of them have adopted a broader approach to the issue, providing some political direction, has made things much easier.

"The understanding is that we will all now wait for their joint proposals on the way forward. Even the commission proposal will be easy to sell to the membership if the two of them spoke with one voice endorsing it."

Another NEC member said he felt the party's top leadership had discussed the numerous difficulties of the commission running parallel to the court process.

It had decided to downplay the suggestion without it appearing as if Mbeki was backing down.

"Throughout the deliberations much of the emphasis was on ensuring political cohesion in the movement with less focus on bashing this or that side, which was characteristic of the national general council.

"There is now a realisation that this has gone on too long and the ANC has to provide necessary leadership," the NEC member said.

Even if the ANC agreed to the commission, the problem would still be how to convince Cosatu and the SAPC to accept it since it would not be an ANC commission, but for the alliance.

The statement read by ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe, says in part: "We therefore urge, in the strongest terms possible, that no one should use the name of the president or the deputy president to mobilise for or against either, and for or against any other leader of the movement."

At the heart of the crisis threatening the unity of the ANC is Zuma's belief that he should be the next president of the party and the country. Because of this, he and his supporters see the corruption charges against him as part of a conspiracy to block his ascension to the highest office in the land.

It was unclear if the public show of unity will hold if Mbeki and Zuma do not tackle the issue of succession. This is seen by many as the real cause of the tension.

To dispel rumours of a conspiracy, Mbeki has suggested a commission of inquiry to probe allegations that he was leading the plot to discredit Zuma. His suggestion for a commission was endorsed in principle by the NEC.

Motlanthe said the NEC had accepted the decision to establish a commission. Motlanthe said Zuma, as a leading member of the movement, had also heeded the call for a commission to look at whether there was a conspiracy against him.

With acknowledgements to Jimmy Seepe, S'thembiso Msomi and the City Press.