When President Thabo Mbeki signed the September 18 proclamation establishing what is now the Hefer commission to probe claims that national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy, it was believed this would put the matter to rest.

But as events unfold, it seems Mbeki - (and by extension the ANC) - is the enemy of his own initiatives.

If not, his establishment of the Hefer commission was nothing more than sophistry.

He may have wanted to convince the public the establishment of the commission was an indication that he regarded seriously the allegations against South Africa's top prosecutor.

But little, as it now becomes appparent, did the president know (or maybe he pretended) that establishing the commission could not have been an end in itself. It would also need his full support.

In this context the decision taken by the ANC, presumably under his sanction, to gag (to put it crudely) Deputy President Jacob Zuma, a potential key witness, from testifying before the commission, is not only startling. It is also an obstruction of what could otherwise be a just inquiry.

When the commission was established, many in the country thought the process would be swift. But it appears the opposite will be the case. There is no doubt that Zuma's testimony is crucial especially as he presided over the ANC intelligence structure during the 1980s - the period in which Ngcuka is alleged to have spied for the apartheid security police.

The fact that Zuma has, on numerous occasions, indicated he would fully co-operate with the commission, and the fact that the ANC has - at least in its public statements - supported the commission, makes it even more bizarre that the very same organisation would gag Zuma.

Zuma is more than a potential key witness. He also has input to make regarding his statements that Ngcuka abused his powers.

More importantly, Zuma has never publicly denied or confirmed whether, as head of the intelligence unit of the ANC, he authorised the investigation against Ngcuka, or received reports thereof.

If anything, the decision to pre-emptively prevent Zuma from testifying is more than just a snub to the Hefer commission. It could only be an indication of deep-seated divisions within the ruling party, which Luthuli House is always quick to deny publicly.

What is even more worrying is Mbeki's apparent or intentional contradictions: two weeks before he signed the Hefer proclamation, he denied, in his weekly online column, the existence of a spy list in the ANC and further indicated he was not supportive of revelations of whether people were spies or not.

By so doing, Mbeki indirectly indicated to the intelligence ministry and agencies that documents on spies, which are in possession of the intelligence agencies, should not be released.

It has emerged the intelligence agencies are fighting against the release of the documents. Intriguingly, the legal counsel of the accused Justice Minister Penuell Maduna and Ngcuka - in addition to accuser Mac Maharj and Mo Shaik and Judge Joos Hefer - want the documents.

The ANC has left the Hefer commission with no option but to subpoena Zuma - an option the ANC will have to oblige. But it is likely to raise questions about if it can instruct Zuma on what he should or not say at the commission.

There is no doubt, as we approach the elections, the episodes being played out at the Hefer commission are likely to become political footballs.

The tragedy is that the commission appears unlikely to make a legitimate statement that would clear or implicate Ngcuka as an apartheid era spy if it does not get all the information it needs, from intelligence agencies and from Zuma, as a potential key witnesses. If that happens it will be in nobody's interest.

For now and for whatever unconvincing reasons, it may sound prudent for the ANC and Mbeki to prevent Zuma from testifying and the government from releasing state documents. But in the end, both actions are likely to sabotage the very reason for the establishment of the commission - to establish the truth about Ngcuka's past.

With acknowledgement to the City Press.