So Judge Chris Nicholson yesterday granted the National Prosecuting Authority leave to appeal against his judgment on September 12 that sealed the split in the ANC.

So Judge Chris Nicholson yesterday granted the National Prosecuting Authority leave to appeal against his judgment on September 12 that sealed the split in the ANC.

By throwing out the corruption charges against Jacob Zuma and inferring political interference in the case, the judge opened the way for the post-Polokwane ANC to ditch president Thabo Mbeki.

The prosecutors and Mbeki alike took umbrage at the ruling and noted that no evidence of political interference had been offered or argued at the hearing.

Though Zuma and his team have taken advantage of every legal loophole they can to delay his trial, his allies couldn't wait to ditch their nemesis Mbeki and his crew.

Nicholson conceded yesterday that another court might well find in the prosecution's favour. But even a judgment against Zuma will not unscramble the mess his allies have made of the ANC.

The elections next year will have come and gone long before the legal wrangling is settled and we face the ominous and embarrassing prospect of our new president being convicted of corruption.

Equally unsettling, the toppled Mbekiites may be adjudged to have played no part in Zuma's prosecution.

There's a constitutional lesson for us all in this melodrama: we're all equal before the law, even politicians.