As the battle for power heats upthe NPA gives Zuma a reminder

Just as Jacob Zuma headed for the ANC national conference in Polokwane on the eve of possibly his greatest political triumph, he was reminded yesterday about the possible corruption trial that looms over him in the new year.

In an unfortunate coincidence for the rampant Zuma, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) sent out a clear signal that they were still determined to pursue their case of corruption against him.

The NPA yesterday filed papers in the Joburg High Court opposing his attempts to set aside an earlier decision to disallow key evidence gathered during raids on his lawyers and the Mauritius offices of French company, Thint (then Thompson), which profited from the state's arms deal.

At the same time Winnie Madikizela-Mandela embarked on an 11th-hour round of shuttle diplomacy in an attempt to broker a truce between Zuma and President Thabo Mbeki, who will slug it out for the presidency of the ANC at the Polokwane conference.

First she spent 90 minutes with Zuma at his home in Forest Town and then she dashed off to Lithuli House, the ANC's headquarters, for a meeting with Mbeki.

It was unclear what came out of either meeting, but an attempt earlier this week by Madikizela-Mandela to play peacemaker - with her proposing that the status quo remain until 2009 when Zuma would take over the presidency of the country - was rejected by both camps as being unworkable.

In yesterday's court drama, the NPA filed an answering affidavit in response to Zuma's challenge in the Constitutional Court, which followed an earlier ruling that declared the search-and-seizure warrants used in the raids on his home and on the premises of his lawyers legal and valid.

The search-and-seizure warrants, granted by Judge President Bernard Ngoepe, formed part of the NPA's investigation into allegations of corruption, money laundering, fraud and related offences. The investigation also implicated, among others, Zuma, his jailed financial advisor Schabir Shaik and the France-based Thales group, of which Thint is the South African subsidiary.

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upheld an appeal by the NPA against a High Court ruling that prevented them from using documents seized from Zuma and his lawyer.

Zuma had argued that aspects of the investigation infringed on his right to dignity and his right to a fair trial.

But according to the NPA's affidavit its prosecuting team had commenced a process aimed at finalising a draft indictment against Zuma and Thint based on the available evidence after the SCA ruling last month.

"This process of consultation, assessment of old and new evidence and drafting the indictment was completed on December 11, according to the answering affidavits," the NPA said.

The affidavit further states that the NPA was currently considering the matter as a whole, with a view to taking a decision on prosecution. The state has asked that the application for leave to appeal by Zuma and Thint be dismissed with costs.

These dramas played themselves out against a backdrop of the bitter power struggle between the two men, which has left the ANC divided and at war with itself.

And as about 5 000 delegates make their way to the Limpopo capital of Polokwane, they are heading for what seems likely - barring a miracle last-minute intervention - to be the most vitriolic showdown in the ANC's long history.

Nominations for the ANC's top six leaders will start tomorrow without any real possibility that either side will agree to a compromise presidential candidate - and amidst unprecedented mistrust and mud-slinging between top leaders.

Zuma triumphed in the provincial nomination process, but some of those outcomes are likely to be reversed at Polokwane and neither side is predicting an easy victory.

The weekend will see Mbeki deliver his opening political report which is expected to outline achievements within the country and beyond, dwell on the rich legacy of the ANC and tackle the divisions over personalities, rather than policies, and what he says are some "misconceptions" that have dogged the party and the alliance.

Mbeki conceded in an interview with a weekly newspaper yesterday that the level of acrimony was unprecedented and said that differences were between personalities rather than over contested policies. He said much false information had been circulated and expressed concern over factionalism.

The conference is also to consider an organisational report by ANC secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe which too will pull no punches, given the myriad problems the ANC has experienced.

These include: branches in disarray and even disbanded; lack of political education; malfunctioning of many alliance structures; factionalism and division at all tiers.

Those who were facing each other with daggers-drawn this week included ANC Youth League president Fikile Mbalula who lashed back at Finance Minister Trevor Manuel over the minister's open letter to Mo Shaik, an unofficial Zuma advisor; ANC chairperson and Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota whose comments about Zuma saw veteran Zola Skweyiya, the Minister of Social Development, pen a letter of complaint to the NEC.

This acrimony between the rival camps was mirrored in skirmishes across the country even as delegates began their journey to Polokwane. Meanwhile at the University of Limpopo, where a tent-town has mushroomed to house the conference, last-minute preparations were still underway yesterday.

A cordon of steel has been thrown around the area where the conference is to be held, with coils of barbed wire securing the perimeter and police vehicles travelling in convoys along usually sleepy countryside roads.

Limpopo police said a "huge contingent of police were on duty inside the university and outside and part of the N1 freeway would also be monitored.