Deputy President Jacob Zuma said yesterday that he would appear before the Hefer commission if called on to do so.

Zuma told SABC news that "if the judge wants to talk to me, I have no problem".

He was responding to a challenge put to him on Monday by the Scorpions to present his case in a court of law.

Zuma instead responded that he was prepared to appear before the Hefer commission, which was established to investigate claims that the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy. Ngcuka has strenuously denied the allegations.

Zuma said SA had moved away from a situation where there was widespread abuse of power. He said it was important to defend this freedom and that he would do so by appearing before the commission, if asked to.

President Thabo Mbeki has appointed Judge Joos Hefer, the former acting chief justice, to head the investigation.

If Zuma does appear before the commission, it will be the first time he will submit himself to cross-questioning on the saga which includes allegations that he may have been involved in corruption charges brought against Durban businessman Shabir Shaik.

The latest spat between Ngcuka and Zuma comes after the deputy president released a statement on Monday concerning a briefing held two months ago by the Scorpions for a number of black editors.

Zuma said in the statement that "according to reports of the secret meeting, the national director allegedly discussed cases he was investigating and imparted to the editors and senior journalists, in a very malicious and despicable manner, untruthful information about me.

"The briefing was clearly designed to entrench rumours and prejudice and to influence reporting and commentary."

Reacting to Zuma's statement, Ngcuka said he was "disappointed" by the allegation.

"The so-called minutes of the meeting between the NDPP and certain editors not only appear to have been written by a person who did not attend the meeting, but they are also replete with distortions, inaccuracies and falsehoods," Ngcuka said.

"Moreover, if he feels his character has been impugned by anything done or said by the NDPP or the National Prosecuting Authority, he is challenged to exercise his legal rights as accorded under our constitutional democracy, and to institute defamation proceedings in a court of law."

Meanwhile, New National Party MP Carol Johnson said yesterday that the latest skirmish between Zuma and Ngcuka was "starting to look like a soap opera" and was detracting from the investigation being done by the Hefer Commission. "The time has come for both parties to keep quiet and let the Hefer commission do its job," she said

With acknowledgements to Tim Cohen and the Business Day.