Bloemfontein - Hopes for a quick, "surgical" outcome in the Hefer Commission's investigation into allegations of apartheid-era spying against Scorpions chief Bulelani Ngcuka were dashed on the first day yesterday when the accusers were granted another month to prepare submissions.

The legal representative for veteran ANC leader Mac Maharaj and special foreign affairs adviser Mo Shaik asked Judge Joos Hefer for more time to prepare their testimony and trace documents that would prove their allegations.

The two, who had backed up media reports that Ngcuka was an apartheid spy, were scheduled to appear before the commission tomorrow.

Stephen Joseph, counsel for Maharaj and Shaik, said they needed to find documents to prove their allegations. Joseph gave Judge Hefer a list of documents they needed the commission to source for their testimony.

He insisted that the documents were relevant to the investigation.

Commission secretary John Bacon said he would not disclose what these were or from whom they had to be requested.

"All along (Maharaj and Shaik) were prepared to tell anyone who would listen there was confirmation that my client was a spy," said Boyce Moerane, SC, for Ngcuka.

"According to our knowledge, they had the documents prepared to give to the press."

The postponement should be granted because "whatever harm there was to be done, has already been done", he said.

Kessie Naidu, SC, leader of the evidence, told the commission that he would be unable to lead Maharaj and Shaik's evidence if he did not have their statements.

Judge Hefer told them they had until November 17 to produce their submissions.

Opening the proceedings yesterday, the judge expressed the hope that the commission would be wrapped up quickly.

The allegations against Ngcuka, National Director of Public Prosecutions, first appeared in a Sunday newspaper. They included that the ANC investigated an allegation in the 1980s that he was an informer with the code name RS452.

The commission's terms of reference have been extended to include an inquiry into whether Ngcuka and his line manager, Maduna, misused their offices "due to past obligations to apartheid".

Ngcuka denies the allegations. His office has said security police informer RS542 was a white woman in the Port Elizabeth area.

Bacon acknowledged that the postponement could have a serious effect on the commission's work and could lead to its being drawn out over months.

Despite the setback, the commission officially begins its public hearings today.

First to be called will be veteran journalist Raymond Louw. In a voluntary submission on behalf of the South African National Editors' Forum, he is to ask the commission not to compel journalists to disclose their sources.

Ngcuka's spokesman, Sipho Ngwema, said the delay was "frustrating".

Before the start of the sitting yesterday, Ngwema referred to it as "the day of reckoning" and expressed the hope that "there would be no delaying tactics".

"We need to get to the bottom of the facts and then ... be allowed to do our work," Ngwema said.

Speaking outside the Supreme Court of Appeal, Maharaj repeated his allegation that Ngcuka's office had "unrestrained" power, the misuse of which opened up "a huge danger for now and our future".

Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon earlier urged President Thabo Mbeki to extend the terms of reference of the commission to investigate the alleged abuse of power by Maduna and officials serving under him.

Such an extension was necessary to restore public faith in the administration of justice in South Africa, Leon said in a statement.

With acknowledgements to Christelle Terreblanche, Estelle Ellis and the Cape Times.