It was business as usual at the ANC's Johannesburg headquarters yesterday, with the party's national working committee seized with next year's local government election and not much else.

ANC spokesman Smuts Ngonyama said last night all the ANC's top officials were present, including President Thabo Mbeki and his deputy Jacob Zuma.

Asked whether Zuma's latest woes had been discussed, Ngonyama said: "Nothing. We did not discuss anything about his situation. The meeting was about the elections."

Nor had Zuma informed the ANC of any impending statement.

Ngonyama reaffirmed the ANC's position that the rape allegations against Zuma should be dealt with in terms of the law, by the appropriate state institutions.

With indications at the weekend that Zuma may well be prosecuted for rape, speculation is rife that Zuma may soon make an announcement.

However, yesterday it remained exactly that, pure conjecture.

Several of those close to Zuma were unaware of any announcement by the ANC deputy president, although his lawyer, Mike Hulley, confirmed last night a statement would be issued today. Yesterday, the ANC Youth League repeated that it was "100 percent" behind Zuma, regardless of the latest rape claims against him and the wait-and-see approach adopted by the ANC itself and even Cosatu and the SACP.

The ANCYL made it clear that Zuma remained its choice for ANC president.

"We don't want to sound like a broken record ... but our view remains that we support Jacob Zuma for presidency," youth league president Fikile Mbalula said.

He acknowledged, though, that the issue of succession within the ANC was still under discussion.

"We will not succumb to the demands of our detractors to turn our backs on Jacob Zuma, simply because they have already found him guilty before his trial has even begun," Mbalula read from a statement.

However, if Zuma was charged with rape and prosecuted, the Youth League would be guided by its structures.

"Like the ANC, we will pronounce ourselves if and when he is charged ... As it stands, we cannot talk about a rumour. (All) we know is that the NPA is examining the rape docket but beyond that, we don't know how far the investigations are and thus cannot say much."

The ANC Youth League's announcement coincided with reports that the National Prosecution Authority would be handing back the Zuma rape docket to police for further investigation.

With acknowledgements to Angela Quintal, Mojalefa Mashego, Jeremy Gordin and the Cape Times.