This has been decided by ruling party leaders at a three-day special meeting which ended in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The meeting was attended by Zuma, President Thabo Mbeki, Cabinet Ministers and all the newly-elected National Executive Committee(NEC) members.

This was the first meeting that Mbeki had attended after being trounced by Zuma for the leadership at the party's national conference last month.

Mbeki had missed the first meeting of the NEC and, last week, failed to attend the 96th anniversary celebrations of the party in Pretoria.

The new secretary general of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, said the NEC confirmed as an "urgent resolution" that those members of the National Prosecuting Authority's Directorate of Special Operations, known as the Scorpions, performing police functions would be absorbed into the South African Police Service by June 2008.

"The decision was not influenced by the charges against Jacob Zuma," he said.

Zuma was charged with fraud, corruption, tax evasion, racketeering and money laundering only two days after he was elected President of the ANC at its national conference on 20th December.

Zuma had trounced Mbeki for the position and the ANC Youth League claimed that he had initiated the charges against Zuma.

Mantashe also confirmed that the party leaders discussed co-operation between Zuma and President Mbeki's government in promoting the resolutions adopted by the ANC at its December conference.

Currently there are two centres of power with Mbeki in government and Zuma as leader of the party.

The party leaders, he said, had also discussed the issue of electricity power cuts introduced by the state power supplier, Eskom, since last week.

The power cuts throughout the country have disrupted industries, factories and offices and have caused untold inconveniences to motorists and home owners.

Eskom has stated that consumers would have to put up with power cuts for the next eight to 10 years when another power station would be built.

Mantashe said the ANC and the government would announce plans soon to overcome the power cuts.-Source: By DDI News