President Kgalema Motlanthe was prepared to offer Vusi Pikoli about R10 million to walk away from his position as prosecuting head. But Pikoli's reluctance to resign as national director of public prosecutions - and his unrepentant response to the negative findings made against him by Dr Frene Ginwala - changed the president's mind.

Reliable sources have said that Motlanthe was initially willing to reinstate Pikoli, who was suspended from his job in September last year, on condition that he would receive an estimated R10 million "golden handshake" and resign immediately *1. But, seemingly spurred on by the support he received from National Prosecuting Authority staff, Pikoli is understood to have been unwilling to accept the terms of the offer.

"He was seriously considering staying at the NPA, at least in the short term … in the hope that he would guide the NPA through the formation of the new unit that will replace the Scorpions," a source told The Sunday Independent.

Unhappy about the prospect of Pikoli returning to office, Motlanthe became further infuriated by Pikoli's refusal to accept Ginwala's findings that he did not take into account national security implications when making prosecutorial decisions.

Addressing the media this week about his controversial decision to axe Pikoli, Motlanthe hinted at his unhappiness over the prosecuting boss's response to the Ginwala Inquiry report.

Speaking to The Sunday Independent, Aslam Moosajee, Pikoli's attorney, said it was "disingenuous" to suggest that Motlanthe was leaning towards reinstating Pikoli but had changed his mind on the basis of Pikoli's unrepentant response to the Ginwala report.

The fact that Motlanthe had asked for Pikoli's representations about the "adverse findings" made against him in the Ginwala report "suggests that the president was never inclined to reinstate Mr Pikoli", he said.

Moosajee confirmed that Pikoli was still considering when and how to take legal action over Motlanthe's decision not to reinstate him.

"Our main consideration is whether we should litigate before or after the completion of the parliamentary process [in which parliament will vote on whether or not to support Pikoli's firing]," he said.

Moosajee added: "We have consistently maintained that Mr Pikoli acted correctly. Dr Ginwala's report did not convince us otherwise."

With acknowledgements to Karyn Maughan and defenceWeb.