Hawks head Berning Ntlemeza's head should be next on the chopping block, the Democratic Alliance (DA) says.

This follows a war of words between Ntlemeza and embattled National Prosecuting Agency (NPA) head Shaun Abrahams over the latter's decision to withdraw charges against Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan.

The exchange between the two was revealed in court papers filed by Abrahams on Tuesday, which indicated that he had received a letter from Ntlemeza the day before he dropped charges against Gordhan.

Ntlemeza was accusing Abrahams of making the decision in bad faith, "based on the noise made by politicians, civil society lobby groups and the media".

In one of Abrahams follow-up letters, he hit back at Ntlemeza, saying he took "umbrage at the very serious allegations you levelled against me" that were "completely incorrect and ill-informed".

DA MP Zakhele Mbhele said the letter was yet another damning indictment against Ntlemeza.

"The letter details Abrahams' justified displeasure with Ntlemeza's inability to stay in his lane and stick to his mandate - which is to investigate priority crime and to hand over the investigation to the NPA for the decision on whether or not to prosecute," he said.

The DA had already written to Police Minister Nhleko to request Ntlemeza's provisional suspension, the party said.

"It has become clear that both the NPA and the Hawks have been politically compromised and the letter is yet another reason why Ntlemeza should be removed so that the Hawks can claw back their credibility."

They hoped Nhleko would ask Ntlemeza to also provide reasons why he should not be suspended, after President Jacob Zuma requested the same from Abrahams.