Johannesburg - One of the country's top academics, Dr Barney Pityana, says the controversial Ngcuka spy probe, the Hefer commission, is a waste of taxpayers' money.

In an apparent reference to Bulelani Ngcuka's opponents, Pityana said "the truth is that . . . they are thieves and criminals - whether comrades or not - who must be having a field day, dancing on the pin of a needle" because they have succeeded in diverting attention from the most pressing task, the investigation into irregularities in the arms deal.

"As South African citizens, we are deeply outraged at what is going on. Any rational being can see that, by deliberate ploy, attention has now moved away from the key issue, that is corruption associated with the arms deal.

"It has now come to be whether the National Director of Public Prosecutions was an apartheid spy or not, as if that will determine whether any persons in a corrupt and unlawful manner sought to benefit themselves through the state's investment in arms," said Pityana, former head of the SA Human Rights Commission.

Pityana said that people in government whose moral authority has been questioned because of alleged corruption should resign.

They should do so "not because they are guilty of any crime, but that they can no longer command the authority necessary to uphold the democratic system".

Pityana said the arms deal saga was an indication that South Africa has reached the point where "democratic actors know instinctively when they are losing public confidence".

Pityana did not mention the names of any government leaders. But the most senior leader who has been in the news for alleged corruption in the arms deal is deputy president Jacob Zuma.

Those who have openly accused Ngcuka of being an apartheid spy are former transport minister Mac Maharaj and former ANC intelligence chief Mo Shaik.

It is their claims that Ngcuka was an apartheid spy which led to the appointment of the Hefer Commission of Inquiry by President Thabo Mbeki.

"As South African citizens, we are deeply outraged at what is going on. We cannot continue like this. For us, what is at stake is the political will and the capacity of our government as well as state institutions to deal decisively, without fear or favour, with corruption, a cancer that is eating at the body politic.

"It will destroy our democratic order unless it is nipped in the bud," Pityana remarked.

With acknowledgements to Wally Mbhele, Mawande Jack and the City Press.