Embattled Scorpions boss Bulelani Ngcuka has vowed to refocus on the allegations of corruption and bribery against Deputy President Jacob Zuma and former transport minister Mac Maharaj once the Hefer Commission "side-show" was completed.

Through his spokesman, Sipho Ngwema, Ngcuka promised to go back to "the allegations of bribery, corruption and fraud in the arms procurement process" after dealing with the Hefer Commission's inquiry into whether he was a spy for the apartheid regime.

In a veiled reference to the Scorpions' investigations into Zuma and Maharaj, Ngwema said: "Our focus right now is to deal with the side issues, the spy allegations, that these people have raised. This is the day of reckoning for them. They must go to the commission and present their case.

"At the end of this side-show we'll go back to our core business and deal with the allegations of bribery, corruption and fraud in the arms procurement process and other related matters - that is the main issue."

The Scorpions had been investigating allegations that Zuma was involved in bribing French arms dealers.

Zuma has insisted that he is innocent.

The Scorpions have also been investigating Maharaj regarding state contracts awarded during his tenure as a minister from 1994 to 1999.

Ngwema also said there was "relative progress" in Ngcuka's efforts to get the French government to co-operate with the investigation.

"We have asked for mutual legal assistance and the French are preparing for that process of obtaining statements from the two witnesses, Alain Thetard and Jean-Paul Perrier, " he said.

With acknowledgements to Jeremy Michaels and the Cape Times.