South Africans continued to be enthralled by the Hefer Commission's probe into whether the director of public prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, was an apartheid spy in the 1980s.

The case against him, prompted by former transport minister Mac Maharaj, was dealt a severe blow when former activist lawyer Vanessa Brereton confessed that she was agent RS452 the number said to have been the code for Ngcuka.

The probe has been adjourned to November 12 to allow negotiations with intelligent agencies over access to documents.

With acknowledgement to the Business Day.