The Hefer Commission might issue its first interim report on spy allegations made against Bulelani Ngcuka this week.

The report will follow the wrapping up of evidence given by former transport minister Mac Maharaj and former ANC intelligence commander Mo Shaik.

Maharaj and Shaik were branded as the accusers at the commission after they supported a City Press article claiming that National Director of Public Prosecutions Ngcuka had been investigated for being a spy.

President Thabo Mbeki set up the commission, chaired by retired acting chief justice Joos Hefer, after the article was published in September. At the time, Mbeki asked for a report to be made to him "within a month or as soon as possible".

Severe logistical problems led, however, to the main issue before the commission - the allegations made and supported by Maharaj and Shaik - being dealt with only last week.

There are indications that Ngcuka's legal team, led by advocate Marumo Moerane SC, will ask for a first report from the commission this week.

There are, however, several questions that still need to be answered:

What was the role of Deputy President Jacob Zuma in the whole spy saga?

Shaik admitted he was fighting for Zuma's honour. He also admitted to telling former Sunday Times journalist Ranjeni Munusamy that an alleged spy investigation of 1989 was the source of the animosity between Ngcuka and Zuma. He also asked the commission to call Zuma to confirm his evidence. He stated that Zuma knew about the intelligence he had gathered on 888 agents during the apartheid years.

Why did Minister of Justice Penuell Maduna ask Shaik as long ago as 2001 if they had investigated Ngcuka for being a spy? Maduna has been all but sidelined by the new terms of reference for the commission, which keeps the focus firmly on Shaik and Maharaj's evidence. However, Maduna's counsel, Norman Arendse SC, received permission to remain at the commission and cross-examine witnesses.

How did the spy investigation story reach Munusamy? Shaik said he did not tell her about it, even though he gave her many documents. She told Maharaj she had heard about it from a "reputable source".

What was really said at the "off the record" briefing between Ngcuka and a group of newspaper editors?

What was the role of former apartheid security policemen and British secret agents in the spy saga - and who are paying their bills?

Every witness who confirmed the spy allegations, except for Shaik - who said he was doing it for Zuma - had been under investigation by the Scorpions.

The focus this week will be firmly on the journalists who had either been subpoenaed or invited to give evidence.

Munusamy will be noting an appeal against a judgment by the Bloemfontein High Court, dismissing her objections to Hefer's ruling that she must give evidence.

The SA National Editors' Forum (Sanef) has called for the subpoenas to be withdrawn against editors and journalists called to testify at the commission tomorrow.

Those called to testify include former Sunday Times editor Mathatha Tsedu, Mail and Guardian editor Mondli Makhanya, City Press journalist Elias Maluleke, head of e.tv news Joe Thloloe, and former City Press editor Vusi Mona, who has agreed to give evidence.

Sanef said this would "undermine the ability of the media to perform its task in society and could set a damaging precedent for the abuse of journalists and their sources".

But commission spokesperson John Bacon said he did not feel Sanef's protest against the subpoenas issued to journalists and editors was a concern. "There is no such thing as the subpoenas being withdrawn," he said.

With acknowledgements to Estelle Ellis and The Star.