Bloemfontein

A group of South African and Hungarian scientists have discovered a novel way to unravel the mysteries of the annual European swallow migration between the northern and southern hemispheres. By chemically analysing feathers of the little nomads collected during their African sojourn, the researchers are determining from which European breeding area the birds originate.

Deputy President Jacob Zuma has been drawn into the Hefer inquiry into whether National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka abused his official powers. Advocate Steven Joseph, for Ngcuka’s main accusers Mac Maharaj and Mo Shaik, submitted two pages of a sworn affidavit by Zuma to Judge Joos Hefer’s commission on Thursday.

An experienced Home Affairs official knocked out the last pillars of Mo Shaik’s spy argument against chief prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka, in his testimony to the Hefer Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday. Willem Vorster’s testimony drew regular laughter as he offered simple bureaucratic explanations for what Shaik had perceived as sinister circumstances.

Former security police officer Bernie Ley apologised on Monday for creating the incorrect impression regarding National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka’s being an apartheid spy.

Former security policeman Bernie Ley, who confirmed spy allegations, made in the media, against chief prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka, told the Hefer commission on Monday that he had been ”played like a fiddle”. ”He played me like a fiddle, and the tune he used was our friendship of three decades ago,” Ley said of former colleague Gideon Nieuwoudt.

The Hefer commission will hear more about National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka’s much-discussed passport when it resumes its public hearings on Friday. Commission secretary John Bacon said on Thursday Durban attorney KE Mlabe is to testify before Judge Joos Hefer.

Hefer commission evidence leader Kessie Naidu announced on Monday that he would recommend perjury charges be pressed against former City Press editor Vusi Mona. He would also ask that journalist Ranjeni Munusamy be called again to testify before the commission.

Several of chief prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka’s alleged off-the-record comments at a July briefing with black editors were placed on record on Wednesday before the Hefer commission.

Former City Press editor Vusi Mona is scheduled to testify before the Hefer commission on Wednesday about allegations against National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka. Mona will be asked about a controversial off-the-record meeting that Ngcuka allegedly called with a group of black editors a few months ago.

Judge Joos Hefer has no current plans to call Deputy President Jacob Zuma to testify before his commission, secretary John Bacon said on Tuesday. Bacon said there was at the moment no need for Zuma’s testimony.

Former intelligence commander Mo Shaik concluded his testimony before the Hefer commission on Monday in dramatic fashion. His eyes brimming with tears, Shaik said: ”If I have brought the country into disrepute, then I apologise.”

The Hefer commission’s focus should shift in the coming week from the spy claim against head prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka to his alleged abuse of power. Advocate Josiah Boale is expected to testify on Tuesday about Ngcuka’s alleged abuse of his office.

The spy claim against chief prosecutor Bulelani Ngcuka hinged by the end Thursday largely on the absence of travel restrictions imposed on him during the apartheid era.