Johannesburg - Commissions of inquiry were often carpets under which governments could sweep controversial issues, recently-retired Constitutional Court judge Johann Kriegler said on Wednesday.

He was speaking at a Legal Journalist of the Year award ceremony in Johannesburg.

"They can then say, 'We are not speaking about it, it is sub judice,' and by the time (the commission of inquiry) is over everyone has forgotten what it was all about," Kriegler said.

He referred to the current Hefer Commission into allegations that National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid-era spy and that Ngcuka and Justice Minister Penuell Maduna abused their offices.

Kriegler, who has headed commissions of inquiry in the past, questioned the wisdom of a judicial inquiry into "political debate" and expressed sympathy with retired judge Joos Hefer.

The commission was established in the aftermath of an article published by former Sunday Times reporter Ranjeni Munusamy in which it was alleged that Ngcuka had possibly been a spy for the apartheid government.

This allegation has been backed by former transport minister Mac Maharaj and current foreign affairs special adviser Mo Shaik, who are both being investigated for corruption by Ngcuka's office.

Maharaj and Shaik's alleged indiscretions were unearthed during a larger investigation into allegations that deputy president Jacob Zuma allegedly accepted of a hefty bribe from a company which benefited from the now-notorious multi-million rand government arms deal.

Reality or perception?

"...Munusamy, Maharaj: Is it about reality or perception?" Kriegler said.

Kriegler's uncomfortable questions came just before the Afrikaans daily Beeld was revealed to have taken first prize in the award's print category for the third year running.

Beeld's Sonja Carstens, taking over from the newspaper's Philip de Bruin, who won in 2001 and 2002, said the accolade was "a great honour".

She was joined on the podium by the SA Broadcasting Corporation's Khadija Magardie, of Special Assignment, who won in the electronic media category.

Kriegler praised law firm Webber Wentzel Bowens for running and sponsoring the award at a time when journalistic standards were under strain across the world.

In South Africa the milieu had changed radically since the advent of democracy in 1994. Journalistic criticism, especially of the democratically-elected African National Congress government, had to be more sophisticated and better informed than was necessary before 1994.

"The price of freedom is quite high," he said.

Kriegler said that there were parallels between journalists' and judges' roles in democratic society.

"We are the co-protectors of freedom," he said.

Referring to the parlous situation in Zimbabwe, "a million miles north of us", Kriegler said that when the media were under fire from a government the judiciary often got "caught in the crossfire".

With acknowledgements to Sapa and News24.