The battle for the soul of the ANC has taken a vicious turn after national chairman Mosiuoa Lekota launched a fierce verbal attack on ANC presidential front-runner Jacob Zuma, calling him a liar who has misled the party.

In an extraordinary interview with The Times today just 15 days before registration starts for the ANC conference in Polokwane Lekota said it was Zuma who first suggested he be fired from his position as deputy president of the country after his financial adviser Schabir Shaik was found guilty of fraud and corruption.

Lekota said both Zuma and President Thabo Mbeki had attended a meeting of the party's extended national working committee where the issue was discussed.

"They briefed us, and in that briefing they said the president had suggested that perhaps the deputy president should resign.

But comrade Zuma prevailed on the president by saying, 'Rather you dismiss me, because if I resign it might suggest that I'm admitting guilt, when I'm not'," Lekota is quoted as saying.

He goes on to say that Zuma was confronted when, a week after he was dismissed, he alleged that his axeing was the work of a political conspiracy.

"We asked him who are the people who hatched the conspiracy (but) he has never told us to this day," Lekota said.

"For the first time, our people are going to look at these truths. While we were working in government, we did not realise that lies were being spread about us … lies were being spread about the president … lies were being spread about the ANC.

Lekota also accuses Zuma of going behind the party's back when he involved himself in Shaik's company, Nkobi Holdings.

The timing of the bitter broadside is significant as Zuma is currently on a hush-hush whirlwind trip abroad, shoring up support for his candidacy from influential people in governments, business and the international non-governmental community.

The global tour includes an invitation from India's Congress Party Leader Sonia Gandhi to meet top government and business leaders in that country.

Patrick Craven, spokesman for key Zuma ally Cosatu, said today: "We will study the allegations. But I'm sure our support for Jacob Zuma will not be in any way affected by this attack."

Craven said there was a clear and ongoing campaign to discredit Zuma. "But it's clearly backfiring. The more he is attacked, the more determined his supporters are to see him elected."

Lekota could not be reached for further comment.

Another person intimately involved with the Zuma campaign would only say it was "unlikely that Zuma would want to react to Terror's (Lekota) attack".

Responding to Lekota's allegation that Zuma had links with Nkobi Holdings, Shaik's brother Mo said today: "Zuma was never a shareholder in Nkobi , or in any of the companies that Schabir set up."

He said further: "The only money that Jacob Zuma received was from Schabir in his personal capacity. Schabir borrowed it from Nkobi Holdings, and he lent the money to Jacob Zuma."

With acknowledgements to Murray Williams, Deon de Lange and Cape Argus.