PRETORIA (Reuters) - South African President Thabo Mbeki on Saturday put national police chief Jackie Selebi on extended leave in the latest high-level corruption case to rock the country's ruling party.
Mbeki, who had stood behind Selebi despite calls for his sacking, made the announcement a day after prosecutors said they would charge Selebi with corruption, fraud, money laundering and racketeering. Selebi has denied any wrongdoing.
The African National Congress has been hit by several cases of corruption, one involving its new leader, Jacob Zuma, who will be tried for graft later this year.Zuma appealed for unity in his first public address to the African National Congress at celebrations marking its 96th anniversary, vowing to act against anyone who tried to undermine the party, which is trying to recover from the worst rifts in its history.
The decision to charge Selebi is likely to raise the political temperature in South Africa, where a bruising leadership battle and the resulting splits have unnerved investors. Mbeki lost that race to Zuma.
Zuma called for smooth working relations with Mbeki's government but also issued a warning.
"ANC members outside government will not be allowed to undermine those in the government. Those deployed in government cannot undermine the ANC. Should this happen, we will take very serious action," Zuma told thousands of supporters.
Zuma's backers have accused Mbeki's backers of mounting a political campaign to undermine him.
Mbeki has said he will continue to provide strong leadership until he has to step down in 2009, but analysts say he could become a lame duck.
The ANC has said Zuma remains its candidate for president of the country in 2009.
POWER STRUGGLE
Their power struggle has raised fears among investors who want to see South Africa feed its economic boom. Zuma is backed by left-leaning unions but he has told investors there is no need to worry about any major policy changes.
Critics have argued that Mbeki's decision to keep Selebi in office was another example of how he uses state institutions to protect allies and purge opponents, allegations he denies.
On Saturday Mbeki told a news conference: "With effect from midnight last night we have given the national commissioner of police an extended leave of absence."
Asked why he had taken so long to act, Mbeki said: "I have said this before many times. If there was anybody who brought information to me that showed that the national commissioner of police had done wrong things I would act on it. And nobody did."
"The position that we take, that nobody is above the law, is a real serious position," he said.
Selebi is also president of the international police body Interpol, which said it was monitoring the situation carefully and would discuss it at a meeting next month.
"While it would be inappropriate for INTERPOL to comment on the ongoing investigation in South Africa, it should be stated that President Selebi has significantly helped the organisation and its member countries to enhance security and police cooperation worldwide," it said in a statement.
A copy of Selebi's indictment, made available to the media by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), covers a range of charges that include receiving payments from his friend Glenn Agliotti, a convicted drug smuggler accused of playing a role in the 2005 murder of a South African mining magnate.
The indictment said between 2000 to 2005 Selebi received at least 1.2 million rand from Agliotti and his associates, including 30,000 rand from Agliotti a day or two after magnate Brett Kebble was killed.
Zuma's legal team went to court on Friday to try to prevent his prosecution, but the judge rejected the application. NPA spokesman Tlali Tlali said on Saturday afternoon Selebi had not been charged yet.
