Vusi Pikoli's lawyers are ready to challenge his dismissal as National Director of Public Prosecutions in the Johannesburg High Court as soon as it is finalised in Parliament, his attorney said on Thursday.

"I have already got my papers ready," said Aslam Moosajee, the attorney who managed his case through last year's inquiry to determine whether he was fit to hold office.

Although inquiry chairwoman Frene Ginwala said she could not support the contention that he was unfit to hold office, she expressed concern about his understanding of matters of national security.

This was cited by President Kgalema Motlanthe as a reason to recommend to Parliament that he be dismissed.

Later on Thursday the National Assembly was expected to vote on a special parliamentary committee's report which endorsed Motlanthe's decision and said Pikoli "messed up".

"He was clumsy and very unprofessional in his handling of especially the Browse Mole report," said committee chairman Oupa Monareng, referring to a document that alleged a Libyan- and Angolan-funded plot to bring ANC leader Jacob Zuma into office.

At the inquiry Pikoli said he did not immediately attend to the report because it was only a draft.

Moosajee said the final process was expected next week when the National Council of Provinces would vote on the matter.

Essentially, Pikoli's legal team would ask for the setting aside of the decision on the grounds that it was in violation of the constitutional principle of prosecutorial independence, the principles of legality, and that it was not a rational decision.

Meanwhile, he said Pikoli was bearing up under the latest developments.

"He remains in good spirits. I take comfort from the fact that he remains a very principled person," said Moosajee.

Pikoli was suspended in 2007 by former president Thabo Mbeki when it became clear that he intended arresting suspended police chief Jackie Selebi in the course of a corruption investigation.

Mbeki had expressed concerns about the effect this would have on the country's security forces. He and Pikoli, according to testimony at the inquiry, had differing views on how long was needed to create an enabling environment before arresting the national commissioner.

Pikoli told the inquiry he was suspended to stop the Selebi investigation.

Selebi in turn had filed an affidavit accusing the National
Prosecuting Authority's investigative unit the Scorpions of turning on him in an effort to prevent their unit being moved out of the prosecuting authority, to the police.

The NPA was expected to file answering papers in the Johannesburg High Court soon in his bid to get documents for his defence.