The National Prosecuting Authority was expected to announce on Monday morning whether it would proceed with corruption charges against ANC president Jacob Zuma.

Acting NPA head Mokotedi Mpshe was scheduled to hold a press conference in Pretoria after weeks of speculation, reported to be driven in part by Zuma's allies, that he would scrap the prosecution of the ANC leader eight years into the case and two weeks before the elections.

Much of the speculation has centred on secret tape-recordings allegedly revealing that former president Thabo Mbeki conspired with the NPA to put his political rival in the dock for graft linked to the arms deal.

The NPA has refused to say whether the tapes exist or not, and it was not certain whether it would reveal the nature of representations recently made by Zuma in a bid to have the case withdrawn.

It has held marathon deliberations to weigh his submissions and was reported to be split over how to handle the highly sensitive case.

The Sunday Times reported that Zuma has already been assured his legal woes were over. City Press however quoted sources calling the outcome "a cliffhanger" and charging that Zuma's entourage had put out propaganda to convince the public the case was over and force the NPA to capitulate for the sake of stability.

The opposition at the weekend warned against a "cover-up" and insisted Zuma must be made to answer the case, which consists of 16 charges of fraud, corruption, racketeering and money-laundering linked partly to the arms deal.

Democratic Alliance leader Helen Zille said if the charges were withdrawn, she would consider taking legal action to have them reinstated.