President Thabo Mbeki has amended and clarified the terms of reference for the Hefer Commission of Inquiry.

Mbeki's office said the change to the terms of reference was necessitated by the need to clarify the fact that the Commission is not required to investigate whether Justice Minister Penuell Maduna was an agent of the apartheid government, and that the alleged abuse of power relates only to the Office of the National Director of Public Prosecutions.

"It also became necessary to make it clear that the Commission was necessitated by allegations made by persons outside the State Security Services.

"The substance of the investigation remains, largely, the same. The changed term of reference reads as follows:

"The Commission must inquire into, make findings and report on the Allegations made by Messrs MAHARAJ and SHAIK that the National Director of Public Prosecutions was an agent of the security services of the pre-1994 government under code name RS452 or any other code name and, as a result thereof, improperly and in violation of the law, had taken advantage of or misused the prosecuting authority and, in particular, abused, advanced, promoted, prejudiced or undermined the rights and/or interests of any person or organization," the presidency said in a statement.

With acknowledgements to I-Net Bridge and the Business Day.