Scorpions chief Bulelani Ngcuka has welcomed the Bloemfontein High Court decision that journalist Ranjeni Munusamy should give evidence to the Hefer Commission.

"Wonderful," Ngcuka exclaimed when he received the news yesterday.

The Hefer Commission was set up to probe allegations that Ngcuka was an apartheid spy and therefore misused his office in investigating top politicians. Munusamy was the first to write about the allegations that the ANC had investigated Ngcuka's alleged spying activities during the apartheid struggle.

When Judge Joos Hefer over-ruled her reluctance to testify, she applied for a review to the High Court.

Ngcuka yesterday also confirmed that he was not about to throw in the towel and said he believed he had the full support of the president and the ANC behind him.

"When I took this job, I did not want it," he said about then deputy president Thabo Mbeki's request. "I said it will be a tough job, I cannot do this without your support and that of the ANC. The day I feel I don't have that support, if I lost the confidence of the government and the ruling party, (then) I walk out of this.

"That day has not arrived yet."

Ngcuka said he was "absolutely certain" that the commission would clear him on the spying charges.

"Because I have never been a spy ... there can't be any other decision coming out of the commission," he said.

He said the sooner the inquiry was finalised, the sooner the Scorpions could continue their work.

"I think I've learned a lot in the last five months, more than I learned in the last 49 years of my existence. But what has come out of it has been the realisation that I have a very good team around me that made a difference."

Ngcuka's comments come at a time when many doubt whether the Hefer Commission will be able to fulfil its mandate. Six weeks into its existence, the accusers have not yet brought any evidence before Judge Hefer, while more than a dozen former and current intelligence agents are from today on expected to refuse to testify.

Constitutional expert Shadrak Gutto suggested that President Mbeki should realise that the commission may have been the wrong tool to get to the bottom of the allegations and should find another, political, solution.

With acknowledgements to Christelle Terreblanche and the Cape Times.