The presidency has acknowledged the Democratic Alliance's call for an independent judicial commission of inquiry into reports that the opposition party's offices were one of the targets bugged by former spy chief Billy Masetlha.
But the presidency also warned opposition parties not to talk to him through the press or to exploit the findings of Intelligence Inspector General Zolile Ngcakani.
In his report, Ngcakani revealed that telephone conversations of 13 targets were illegally intercepted during Project Avani - an intelligence assignment monitoring the political terrain in which targets included the DA's parliamentary offices, businessman and ANC executive member Cyril Ramaphosa, ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama and chief whip Mbulelo Goniwe.
Masetlha, who is facing arrest, is also blamed for hijacking the project by fabricating emails to sow confusion in the ANC's succession battle.
Masetlha was finally dismissed last week by President Thabo Mbeki, who said he had lost trust in his NIA confidant.
Ngcakani found that emails implicating senior ANC officials, civil servants and others in a conspiracy against Jacob Zuma were a hoax.
DA leader Tony Leon called on Sunday for an independent inquiry, asserting that this could be South Africa's own Watergate after the Sunday Independent revealed Masetlha's targets.
But the presidency said there had been no need for the DA to air its desires through the front pages of national newspapers.
"The presidency wishes to advise that neither is there a need for anyone to communicate with the president through the media nor will any political party or the country benefit from attempts to exploit the findings of the Intelligence Inspector General's investigation," it said.
DA chief whip Douglas Gibson said the party welcomed the announcement, but added that the criticism his party received for using the media made no sense.
"Since it was through the media that we learnt about the unlawful surveillance of the DA, it is through the media that we will respond," he said.
He said the matter was of great importance as it was a clear indicator that the intelligence agencies posed a clear threat to the constitutional order and needed to be reined in.
DA intelligence spokesperson Paul Swart wrote to Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils on Monday to demand the return of all information gathered by the NIA during illegal spying on its offices.
In the letter, Swart said: "As the surveillance in question is alleged to have been carried out illegally, all transcripts of telephone conversations, intercepted emails, as well as all other information obtained that involves any member of the DA or its support staff cannot be legitimately retained by the intelligence services.
"If it is not returned, this will constitute a further violation of the constitutionally entrenched rights to privacy and dignity of the DA, its office bearers and support staff."
There was every chance that the information concerned could relate to confidential party matters, and if it were to land in the hands of the DA's political competitors, could be used to the DA's disadvantage, Swart said.
Meanwhile Sapa reports that legal papers would be served on Mbeki on Tuesday informing him that Masetlha is contesting his sacking, Masetlha's attorney, Imran Haffajee, said.
"This decision derives from the president's determination that the relationship of trust between him and the head of NIA had irreparably broken down," government spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe explained.
A day later the inspector-general of intelligence, Zolile Ngcakani, implicated Masetlha in the hoax email saga that has rocked the National Intelligence Agency.
Haffajee said Masetlha was not fired but that Mbeki amended his "terms of office".
"It is this terms of office that we would ask the Pretoria High Court to rule on," Haffajee said.