Former deputy president Jacob Zuma last night appeared to be hedging his bets, as he reluctantly recused himself from all African National Congress (ANC) activities while clinging to his position as ANC deputy president.

His move followed a day of high drama, during which the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said that it would charge Zuma with at least two counts of corruption.

Zuma’s decision to hold on to his elected ANC position suggests he did not willingly endorse an ANC national working committee statement saying that he had “requested (the committee) to withdraw his participation from all ANC structures pending the completion of the legal process”.

A Zuma insider said: “I don’t see him agreeing to that. There is no such thing.”

The source said it did not make sense for Zuma to ask to be recused from ANC activities while remaining ANC deputy president.

“How does one remain ANC deputy president without attending national executive committee and national working committee meetings?” the source said.

Zuma’s apparent reluctance to accept the ANC’s decision to step down from party functions backs reports of the party’s growing impatience with his defiant stance since he was fired last Tuesday.

A party source said at the weekend that Zuma’s utterances, such as his questioning of the bona fides of Judge Hilary Squires and the judge’s findings in Schabir Shaik’s fraud and corruption trial, contradicted the ANC’s position and put him on a collision course with the party.

The ANC is determined to lessen the damage a Zuma trial would do to the party and its statement yesterday on his future appears designed to shield the party from the spectacle of having its deputy president on trial.

The NPA said yesterday Zuma would appear in the Durban High Court sometime this week.

NPA spokesman Makhosini Nkosi said: “Zuma must be prepared to appear in court this week.” Nkosi said NPA head Vusi Pikoli contacted Zuma yesterday to advise him of this. Pikoli also informed President Thabo Mbeki of his decision to charge Zuma.

Presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo said the president was informed as a matter of courtesy.

“The president was not asked for his comment. He hopes that all South Africans will allow the law to take its course,” he said.

The South African Communist Party (SACP) and the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), staunch Zuma supporters, welcomed the NPA’s move yesterday, but said it came two years too late. Opposition parties also welcomed the decision.

The NPA’s Nkosi said the authority was still finalising the charges to be put to Zuma, but these would include at least two counts of corruption.

Zuma’s expected court appearance this week is likely to see him presented with only provisional charges.

Legal expert Robin Palmer said it would take three to six months for the final charges to be formulated. “The NPA will have to start afresh. They can’t use the court record and anything the judge said in the Schabir Shaik trial is inadmissible.”

Nkosi hinted that the NPA would produce new evidence against Zuma.

Meanwhile, the ANC’s decision to bar Zuma from party activities looks set to pull the rug from under his feet. The move puts a stop to his campaigning among the party’s rank and file. It means Zuma is less able to rally support to his cause. He is also unlikely to serve as a rallying point for disaffected members of the ANC-led alliance.

There are doubts that Zuma will attend next week’s crucial meeting of the ANC’s national general council.

ANC spokesman Steyn Speed said: “While Zuma will not be stopped from attending the (council meeting), he will not address the gathering.”

Speed said Zuma would no longer be allowed to address ANC functions such as branch meetings and mass rallies until the end of his trial.

Indications are that Zuma was given two stark options at yesterday’s national working committee meeting: continue defying the ANC and face the party’s wrath, or agree to the personal ban.

“The national working committee called on all members of the ANC to maintain organisational discipline and high standards of political conduct,” the ANC said.

The party also warned its allies against sowing divisions and making reckless statements about “the supposed existence of a ‘right-wing clique’ within the ANC”.

With acknowledgement to the Business Day.