Bloemfontein : Former intelligence officer Mo Shaik will take the stand at the Hefer commission today, and is expected to present a pared-down version of his original accusations that Scorpions chief Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy.

In documents presented to the commission, Shaik says that "it is important to emphasise that no allegation was made to the effect that Ngcuka was a spy; only that he was the subject of an investigation".

Whether this is a climb-down from his original assertions is a matter of conjecture, but it certainly constitutes a minimalist version of what he has been at least implying up till now.

It also means that the case against Ngcuka will be no stronger than the suppositions that have been put forward so far.

It follows a torrid day of crossexamination for his co-accuser, former transport minister Mac Maharaj.

Under relentless cross-examination from counsel for Ngcuka, Marumo Moerane, yesterday, Maharaj eventually conceded that he did not know whether Ngcuka was a spy or not.

Moerane put it to Maharaj that his client was never a spy or an agent for the security police .

Maharaj started off refusing to concede on the issue, saying the truth was unclear and "question marks" existed that the commission needed to investigate.

But eventually he conceded that he just did not know, and Moerane responded triumphantly: "Now the whole of SA knows that Mac Maharaj does not know whether Bulelani Ngcuka was or was not a spy."

The revelations came thick and fast, including the identification of three former security branch members who appeared in disguised form in an interview on E.tv in September this year.

These included notorious former security policeman Gideon Nieuwoudt, who was involved in several Eastern Cape incidents, including the interrogation of Steve Biko just before his death, the murder of the Pepco Three and the Motherwell bomb.

Maharaj conceded that the interview took place at Shaik's house while he was there, and Nieuwoudt's help was solicited in collecting information in preparation for the commission.

It was also revealed that the filming of the programme took place before Maharaj approached President Thabo Mbeki to discuss the issue something he did not tell Mbeki suggesting that Maharaj was planning to "go public" even before gaining presidential authority to do so.

The programme was shown after the meeting with Mbeki following an agreement with the broadcaster that it would not flight the insert until Maharaj gave his go-ahead.

It also became clear during cross-examination that Maharaj was still being investigated by the Scorpions.

With acknowledgements to Tim Cohen and the Business Day.