The Hefer commission said on Monday it had no mandate to inquire generally into the exercise of Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development Penuell Maduna’s powers.
This was particularly in regard to liquidations and other matters affecting the office of the Masters of the High Court, commission secretary John Bacon said.
The commission’s extended terms of reference were specifically limited to investigate whether Maduna or national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka had misused the prosecuting authority.
This was in addition to the commission’s original instruction to determine whether Ngcuka had been a spy for the apartheid government.
It was earlier reported incorrectly that the commission was not investigating Maduna.
Maduna reportedly announced last Thursday that the commission’s terms of reference had been broadened at his own request to include him.
The announcement came after a week in which he was accused of favouritism. A former deputy director general in Maduna’s department alleged at a media conference that Maduna had used undue influence to ensure the appointment of liquidator Enver Motala.
The minister was earlier among eight top African National Congress members whom ID leader Patricia de Lille wanted confirmed as possible apartheid spies. — Sapa