The prosecution in the Jacob Zuma trial has gone on the offensive in a powerful bid to regain the initiative, not only in the courtroom but also in the propaganda war on the streets.

When Judge Herbert Msimang gave the state just two weeks to respond to a massive petition by Zuma and French defence company Thint to have the case dismissed, prosecutors appeared staggered.

However, on Monday the state met the tight deadline and delivered a stinging rebuttal, countering the claim of unreasonable delays and allegations of a conspiracy against Zuma.

Zuma's affidavit in support of his bid for charges to be withdrawn had attempted to put the prosecution on the defensive and also implicate other powerful players who might balk at the prospect of being dragged into the legal fray -- including President Thabo Mbeki, National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli, former NDPP Bulelani Ngcuka and former justice minister Penuell Maduna.

Mbeki has not responded, but he is well served by Pikoli, Ngcuka and Maduna, whose rebuttals are delivered in surprisingly robust terms.

Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy sets out in great detail the genesis of the state's case against Zuma to show that he was not "targeted" for investigation and that the delays in bringing him to trial were not unreasonable.

All respond to what they call "a theme that resonates" throughout Zuma's affidavit: the claim that the charges against him were initiated and fuelled by a political conspiracy to remove him as a role player in the African National Congress.

Says Pikoli: "I reject these allegations in unequivocal terms. I note that Accused No 1 has put up no facts upon which such serious accusations could reasonably have been founded, but has chosen instead to rely on rumours, press reports, speculation and innuendo. I am advised that these accusations are scurrilous and unfounded, and that they appear to be part of a concerted publicity campaign."

Ngcuka and Maduna place on record similar sentiments, while McCarthy notes: "Most of the complaints made by all three of the accused are in essence complaints, not so much about the manner in which their prosecution has been conducted, but about the fact that they are being prosecuted at all. They suggest that there is no bona fide cause for their prosecution and that it is being done in bad faith and for ulterior purposes. But nothing can be further from the truth."

McCarthy points out that the investigations, which have led to Zuma being charged, were not initiated by the national prosecuting authority, but by allegations made by Patricia de Lille and, later, a mandate by Parliament following initial probes into the arms deal by the auditor general and the public accounts committee, Scopa.

"The mandate required an examination of, among other things, the records of the relevant Thomson-CSF companies [now Thint]," says McCarthy.

It was in those records that investigators discovered a reference to a report of bribery involving a senior government minister relating to the corvettes in the arms deal.

This led the directorate of special operations (Scorpions) to interview Thomson-CSF's auditors, who revealed that they had received a report on possible bribery by Thomson's local boss, Alain Thétard, and that the allegations involved Zuma.

The source of these allegations was Thétard's former secretary, Sue Delique, who first told investigators about (and later provided) the now infamous "encrypted fax": Thétard's handwritten note suggesting he had met Zuma to confirm a request for a bribe initially conveyed by Zuma's close adviser, Schabir Shaik.

Says Ngcuka: "In short, the genesis of the investigation into the bribe agreement involving Accused No 1, Shaik and Thétard, and its subsequent extension into the alleged corrupt relationship between Shaik and Accused No 1 was simply the result of conscientious investigators following the trail of evidence. Nothing more and nothing less."

Ngcuka says the news that the investigation team had uncovered evidence implicating the deputy president in corruption came as an unpleasant revelation.

"The decisions which I was subsequently forced to make were difficult, unpleasant and taken at great personal cost to myself and my family. The irony is that, far from abusing my powers in order to harm Zuma's reputation, I did everything within my powers to protect it."

Ngcuka says he went to great lengths to avoid the investigation of Zuma becoming public, to the extent of declining to raid Zuma's premises when those of Shaik and Thomson were searched in 2001.

"If any criticism is to be levelled at the manner in which the investigation was handled, in retrospect, it is that I may have tried too hard to protect Accused No 1's reputation and not the contrary."

According to Ngcuka, the only real fact that Zuma advances in support of his conspiracy allegation is the so-called "off the record" media briefing, conducted by Ngcuka with a group of black editors, which Zuma had characterised as an attempt to enlist support in a conspiracy to blacken his name.

Ngcuka denies this: "The purpose of the meeting was to dispel certain defamatory and damaging rumours that were being circulated about me. Suffice to say that they included the allegation, which was later brought into the public domain by a certain ex-journalist who now acts as a media consultant to Accused No 1, that I was an apartheid spy. This fabrication was subsequently and publicly discredited by the Hefer Commission of Inquiry."

On the question of his controversial decision not to charge Zuma, while stating that there was a prima facie case against him, Ngcuka reveals that he conveyed this intended wording to Zuma's then legal representative before the public announcement and had met no objection.

Pikoli, for his part, states that the subsequent decision to charge Zuma was simply driven by the new evidence, and findings on previous evidence, delivered by the verdict in the Shaik trial. He denies discussing the matter with Mbeki prior to making his decision.

In characteristically colourful language, Maduna also rejects allegations of being part of a political conspiracy against Zuma, calling them "squalid and opportunistic" and "a cynical ploy" by Zuma to deflect attention from the charges he is facing.

Answering the claim that Mbeki, not Zuma, drafted the letter that torpedoed the involvement of the special investigation unit in the arms deal probe, Maduna says: "Speaking for myself, I would not, in my position as a Cabinet minister, have appended my signature to a document in circumstances where I did not endorse its contents. I respectfully submit that, by signing the letter, Accused No 1 appropriated the letter as his own."

Now for the friends of ... Mbeki President Thabo Mbeki has friends, too, reports Yolandi Groenewald. But while Jacob Zuma's supporters are calling for machine guns, Mbeki's are reaching for their golf clubs. Hosted by the African National Congress-linked Network Lounge, Mbeki's friends will be teeing off in the second Friends of the President Golf Day at the Pretoria Country Club this weekend.

But it is only when all the clubs are stored away that the real action will take place. Prominent South Africans -- "captains of industry", sporting celebrities and ministers -- will join the president for cocktails and dinner, when there will be a toast to Mbeki. "Following dinner you can retire to the Johnnie Walker Lounge for nightcaps," the invitation from Network Lounge says, which is where a R25 000 bottle of vintage whisky will be auctioned off.

Nicholas Wolpe, chairperson of the Network Lounge, said the day was a networking opportunity for people "to engage in dialogue in a relaxed, warm and friendly atmosphere". Wolpe had thought of the event's name in October 2004, long before the Friends of Jacob Zuma had been founded.

With acknowledgements to Sam Sole and Mail & Guardian.