Pretoria — Justice and Constitutional Minister Penuell Maduna says government "will not rush" to amend the Commission's Act of 1947, in a bid to give Commissioners enough teeth to effectively deal with witnesses that refuse to testify at inquiries and other matters.

The minister, who also acknowledged that the Act had some "shortcomings and some strengths" as reported by some Judges who presided over previous Commissions, said if amendments were to be made, a number of policy considerations were needed.

"Unfortunately no," said the minister when asked whether amendments to the Act were to be made soon.

"So the weaknesses (to the Act) are there and we will have to deal with them but you can't rush to deal them," he added.

The minister was speaking after Judge Joos Hefer handed him the report on allegations of whether the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy.

Talks of whether amendments to the Act were necessary comes after Judge Hefer's admission today that he was "frustrated" during the inquiry by the refusal of some witnesses and agencies to give testimony before the commission.

"Personally I find that the most frustrating part is for a commissioner to sit almost helpless when witnesses refuse to answer or refuse to testify and there's really nothing that a commissioner himself can do," said Judge Hefer.

The Judge was referring to some intelligence agencies that refused to shed light on the allegations against Mr Ngcuka.

During the commission, Advocate George Bizos, SC, representing various agencies, warned that it would be a "serious offence," for anyone to disclose "classified information".

Advocate Bizos was representing the ministers of defence, intelligence services and safety and security, and the defence secretary, the national police commissioner and the directors general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the SA Security Service.

However, the Judge also admitted that if such amendments were to be considered it would need a serious balancing act so as to gauge the legal powers bestowed on Judges presiding over the Commission not to be equal to those of a court of law.