It was Nkobi Holdings boss Schabir Shaik who betrayed Deputy President Jacob Zuma to the media and not the Scorpions, the Hefer Commission has heard.

There were major developments in the commission's probe into allegations National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka was apartheid spy RS452 yesterday as Marumo Moerane SC, counsel for Ngcuka, wrapped up his cross-examination of former ANC intelligence operative Mo Shaik - Schabir Shaik's brother.

These included:

Moerane made it clear that the Scorpions had tried their best to protect their investigation into allegations that Zuma was implicated in attempts to arrange bribes related to the arms deal from being exposed in the media by, among other things, blanking out names in court papers.

Moerane said it would be Ngcuka's case that Schabir Shaik, Zuma's financial adviser who is to stand trial for corruption relating to the arms deal, had leaked information about the Zuma probe to the press.

Former ANC intelligence operative Mo Shaik was given a chance to change his evidence about protecting Zuma, but insisted that he did what he did because he perceived Zuma to be the victim of a "false investigation". It now seems inevitable that Zuma will have to give evidence before the commission.

But the ANC reiterated yesterday that it was "unnecessary" for Zuma to testify before the commission.

ANC spokesman Steyn Speed said: "We feel it's not necessary for (Zuma) to appear before the commission as he has no records relevant to the work of the commission."

Speed said if the commission needed to know about the party's intelligence work before 1994, it should have approached the ANC. He said the ANC records had been handed over to the relevant intelligence structures and it was therefore unnecessary to drag the party's name into developments at the commission.

Karl Edwards, the handler of Agent RS452, the codename once claimed to have been that of Ngcuka, gave an affidavit to the commission in which he said that Agent RS452 was not Ngcuka, but a "white police member".

Shaik handed his private intelligence database, which contained information about 888 suspected agents, to the Ministry of Intelligence on Sunday.

Ngcuka's legal team said his evidence would be that he did not know that he had been under investigation in 1989.

Shaik, who gave evidence for three days, was one of the main witnesses at the commission that was set up to probe allegations by himself and former transport minister Mac Maharaj that the possibility that Ngcuka was an apartheid spy was investigated in 1989.

Shaik's unit had concluded that Ngcuka "in all probability" was an agent for the apartheid regime.

Shaik, who recently had a spine operation, was in pain yesterday and had to take pain pills during his evidence.

Since last Thursday he had to stand up to a barrage of accusations that his reports were based on conjecture, speculation and "nothing but gossip".

Moerane added his client's voice to the protest yesterday, saying that he believed Shaik had changed parts of a report before the commission by removing information suggesting that Ngcuka was not a spy.

"You will just have to trust me," Shaik said to Moerane when he was accused of altering reports.

Moerane: "Give me a better reason to trust you. Where is the original report (implicating Ngcuka)?"

Shaik: "I made inquiries. The National Intelligence Agency has it."

To the end of his marathon testimony, Shaik remained defiant.

Moerane: "You don't say that Ngcuka was a spy?"

Shaik: "Isn't that what the commission must address? If the commission finds that my assumption was not correct, I will apologise. Do we really have to go there?"

Moerane made it clear that the Scorpions did not leak information about the arms deal investigation.

"There were no leaks from their side, Mr Shaik. The only leaks were from you to your good friend, (then-Sunday Times journalist) Ranjeni Munusamy."

The last question was by the leader of evidence, Kessie Naidu, SC: "If Bulelani Ngcuka knew he was investigated for being a spy in 1989, is it not a matter of probability that he would let sleeping dogs lie?"

Shaik: "Life is a strange thing, Mr Naidu."

The commission was adjourned until tomorrow.

With acknowledgements to Estelle Ellis, Makhudu Sefara and the Cape Times.