A fresh attempt to find dirt on Bulelani Ngcuka - this time by checking on his student records - has come to light.

It emerged yesterday that Mthembu & Mahomed attorneys, who act on behalf of former transport minister Mac Maharaj and Foreign Affairs Department adviser Mo Shaik, only last week had sought and obtained information regarding National Director of Public Prosecutions Ngcuka's academic and payment records.

Claims last month by Maharaj and Shaik - that Ngcuka had been a spy for the apartheid-era government - led to the establishment of the Hefer Commission.

An attorney from the same firm had also called Sandton attorney and former MK cadre Patrick Maqubela, who testified before the commission last week, to inquire about circumstances surrounding his arrest and the possibility that Ngcuka could have sold him out.

In a letter to Ngcuka, dated October 23, by Unisa academic registrar Professor Louis Molamu, which is in the possession of The Star, it is made clear that Maharaj and Shaik's attorneys were still looking for information on Ngcuka's past as recently as October 17.

It admitted that some information - an academic record of Ngcuka's LLB studies, and account statements for 1982, 1984 and 1985 - had "irregularly" been faxed to the attorneys.

"We have also written to the attorneys, Mthembu and Mahomed, to inform them that the information was obtained in an irregular manner and that it must be destroyed and not used in any manner whatsoever," reads the letter, which offers a "sincerest and unqualified apology for a very serious lapse in the observance of university procedures and the law".

Ngcuka's spokesperson, Sipho Ngwema, said yesterday the letter was evidence that Maharaj and Shaik were still "fishing for any kind of dirt" they could find on Ngcuka.

"There is still time for those who accused Ngcuka to retract their statements and apologise. They must be man enough to apologise," Ngwema said.

The leader of Ngcuka's legal team, advocate Marumo Moerane SC, told the commission yesterday he had received the letter from Unisa, informing him that Maharaj and Shaik were making inquiries about his client's student records.

"It is clear that the accusers are still on a fishing expedition," Moerane said. "They should have done all of this before they went before the TV cameras (with claims against Ngcuka)."

Last week, National Intelligence Agency general manager Ricky Nkondo was implicated by advocate Litha Jolobe, appearing as a witness for Ngcuka, on what could be seen as alleged attempts to help Maharaj and Shaik to find incriminating evidence against Ngcuka.

At the commission hearings in Bloemfontein yesterday, the leader of evidence, advocate Kessie Naidu SC, suggested that Hefer should give the country's intelligence agencies - which have balked at providing classified information about apartheid-era spies - one more chance to help him voluntarily before issuing a subpoena to force them to co-operate.

Hefer was also asked to force the two main accusers in the spy drama, Maharaj and Shaik, to show their hand. The pair are expected to start their evidence before the commission on November 17.

After a hopeful start yesterday, the commission's public hearings ground to a halt after Hefer said it "simply can't go on" at this stage.

Public hearings will resume on November 12, when the present information crises would hopefully have been sorted out, the judge said.

First he would have to take a decision about what to do about obtaining the information the commission needs from the intelligence agencies.

Maharaj yesterday refused to speak to The Star, saying he could respond only to issues raised at the commission on November 17. "I am waiting for the transcripts. I will wait and give my responses at the commission," he said.

Meanwhile an application by former Sunday Times journalist Ranjeni Munusamy to review a decision by Hefer, compelling her to give evidence, will be heard soon in the Bloemfontein High Court. Hefer said yesterday that the commission would oppose the application.

With acknowledgements to Estelle Ellis, Makhudu Sefara and The Star.