Government's top security chiefs were summoned to an urgent meeting in Pretoria yesterday to discuss the "implications of the situation" following the suspension of National Prosecuting Authority head Vusi Pikoli.

The meeting of the national security council at the Union Buildings came shortly after government called opposition parties to a briefing to explain why President Thabo Mbeki had suspended Pikoli at the weekend.

Intelligence and defence force heavyweights like Barry Gilder from the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee, Manala Manzini, the director-general in the National Intelligence Agency, Defence Secretary January Masilela and Godfrey Ngwenya, chief of the SANDF, were just some of those at the meeting.

Yesterday, Director-General in the Presidency Frank Chikane said: "We need to deal with crime and we don't want any dysfunctional ways in which people don't operate according to the law."

On Monday, government said that Pikoli, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), had been suspended following an "irretrievable breakdown" between him and Justice Minister Brigitte Mabandla. The move has surprised the country and sparked public concern.

The Cape Times has it on good authority that Pikoli's fall came after several tense meetings between the two parties, in which Mbeki himself tried to mediate.

The hostile relationship between the country's top prosecutor and Mabandla was peppered with professional differences and public exchanges.

Yesterday Chikane said Mbeki would decide who would head the inquiry into Pikoli's "fitness to hold public office".

It is understood that part of the problem stemmed from Pikoli's refusal to report to Mabandla, even though he was obliged to do so.

Chikane said the breakdown in their relationship should not be reduced to a personal issue and that they were constitutionally bound to work together. He said government had decided to brief political parties represented in parliament on the matter because it was "serious enough", but that the parties had to understand that there was a law which prescribed how to deal with the suspension of the NDPP.

He added that once the inquiry had been completed Mbeki would apply his mind to the issue and make a decision. If he decided to remove Pikoli from office, Mbeki would have to inform parliament about the matter within 14 days of his decision, but parliament would then have the final say.

With acknowledgements to Wendy Jasson Da Costa, Moshoeshoe Monare and Cape Times.