The Hefer commission of inquiry is heading for a showdown with the country's intelligence agencies as it subpoenas them to give evidence into espionage allegations against the national director of public prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka.

The move is a clear indication of Judge Joos Hefer's impatience with the intelligence agencies, who last week told the commission that it would have to follow proper procedure and apply for such protected information .

They argued that it would be illegal for anyone to reveal such information without consent from the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) director-general, the secretary of defence and the South African Police Service's national commissioner.

Hefer was given a month by President Thabo Mbeki to look into the allegations of espionage and abuse of office by Ngcuka and Justice Minister Penuell Maduna. The more the commission drags on, the more costly it will be to the taxpayer.

The commission was adjourned this week until November 12 to allow for negotiations between the intelligence agencies and the commission to continue. It would seem that those talks have broken down.

NIA spokeswoman Lorna Daniels would not confirm that the agency had been subpoenaed. John Bacon, secretary for the commission, said yesterday that it would not divulge the names of subpoenaed individuals. "We have decided that we will subpoena persons who can assist the commission with documents and who can assist the commission by testifying," said Bacon.

However, Sapa quoted Bacon as saying that the heads of the various intelligence agencies would be summoned to testify before the commission.

The subpoenas would also force them to submit all relevant documents in their possession to assist in the commission's investigation.

In an interview on SAfm yesterday morning, Hefer said the commission had also subpoenaed Ngcuka's accusers, Mac Maharaj and Mo Shaik, to provide the commission with documents i n their possession by November 17, when they were due to give evidence.

Shaik, a former NIA agent, appeared on TV claiming to be holding classified documents relating to the matter.

Maharaj, a former transport minister, and Shaik, a special adviser to Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, asked the Hefer commission to source documents from the intelligence agencies that would prove that Ngcuka was an apartheid-era spy.

Asked about whether Mbeki was concerned about the delays in the commission, presidential spokesman Bheki Khumalo said last night that the commission had been given its terms of reference and the President would only deal with the matter once the commission's report has been released.

With acknowledgements to Xolani Xundu, Sapa and the Business Day.