CAPE TOWN, South Africa — South Africa’s national police commissioner resigned as president of Interpol yesterday after prosecutors said he is to face corruption charges.

In a case that has rocked the ruling African National Congress, a leading party member, Jackie Selebi, has been accused of taking payoffs from a notorious criminal. According to a draft indictment seen by the Daily Telegraph, prosecutors believe Mr. Selebi was paid a minimum of around $200,000 over 18 months by Glenn Agliotti, a convicted drug smuggler who has been charged with the infamous murder of a mining magnate, Brett Kebble.

The prosecution claims the two men had a “generally corrupt relationship” and went on shopping trips together, with Mr. Agliotti paying for Mr. Selebi’s purchases and even buying gifts for the policeman’s wife and girlfriend.

The case is an embarrassment for President Mbeki, who has long defended his ally, and a symbol of potentially disastrous weakness in the still-new establishment in a country where crime is rife. There are almost 50 murders and more than 125 rapes reported in South Africa every day.

Mr. Selebi’s fall is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent corruption scandals in the country, and the party’s new leader, Jacob Zuma, is himself facing fraud charges.