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By Mike Cohen
Bloomberg

South Africa's main opposition party is considering calling on President Thabo Mbeki to resign after the High Court said he may have tried to influence prosecutors to charge his rival Jacob Zuma with corruption. Judge Chris Nicholson invalidated the charges against Zuma on Sept. 13, saying proper procedures weren't followed and the case may have been politically motivated. Zuma succeeded Mbeki as president of the ruling African National Congress in December, 10 days before prosecutors recharged Zuma with graft.

``The Democratic Alliance is of the view that unless President Mbeki can satisfactorily explain his conduct before parliament, he should resign,'' party leader Helen Zille told reporters in Cape Town today. If he fails to do so, ``the National Assembly should be dissolved to trigger an early election.'' With some within the ANC calling for Mbeki to be ousted, the DA may hold the decisive vote in parliament. The ANC controls 297 of the 400 seats in the National Assembly and the DA 47. A motion of no-confidence would require the support of half the legislators to win.

Mbeki has denied telling prosecutors who to charge and is consulting his lawyers about Nicholson's judgment. Under the Constitution, two-thirds of lawmakers can vote to dismiss the president on the grounds that he violated the law, is guilty of serious misconduct or is unable to perform his duties. Alternately, a majority of lawmakers may force the president from office through a vote of

no confidence.

`Testing His Support'
``Assuming that Mbeki is guilty of misconduct, neither proposal is optimal because both would clear the path for Zuma to be elected president without testing his support,'' Zille said. New elections have to be held before the end of July, following which Mbeki will have step down, having served the maximum two terms allowed under the constitution.

While the ANC's youth league and military veteran's association have both called for Mbeki to be removed from office, Zuma said he should be allowed to complete his term. The National Prosecuting Authority is still deciding whether to reinstate charges against Zuma. The DA says it is constitutionally bound to do so once proper procedures have been followed, including giving Zuma the right to a pre-trial hearing. ``It would be a miscarriage of justice if Zuma were to get off the hook due to a legal technicality,'' Zille said. ``Should the NPA decline to prosecute Zuma, the DA will investigate the option of privately prosecuting the ANC president,'' which is permissible under South African criminal law.