The two organisations said in a joint statement that the intelligence services had made it clear they were going to make it as difficult as possible for the commission to access their records.
They criticised a submission last week in which lawyer George Bizos argued on behalf of the spymasters that the commission must apply for documents in terms of three pieces of legislation.
These were the Intelligence Services Act, the Protection of Information Act (Poia) and the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia).
Bizos further argued that the commission must justify the need for disclosure.
The FXI and archive called this argument yesterday "seriously flawed".
It ignored Paia's involuntary disclosure mechanism through which documents could be made available without stringent legalistic and bureaucratic procedures.
The agencies' reliance on Poia was problematic because they themselves had admitted this "archetypal piece of apartheid legislation" was anachronistic.
"Many legal commentators regard it as unconstitutional," the two organisations said.
Paia furthermore took precedence over other laws, which restricted rather than facilitated access to information and records.
Paia specifically determined that no one requesting documents from public bodies had to indicate why and for what use they wanted them.
"This provision recognises the constitutional principle of the right to know, rather than the Bizos submission's articulation of a need to know," the joint statement read.
Ironically, the FXI recently supported another of the commission's potential sources who refused to co-operate.
The organisation was one of several media institutions who defended journalist Ranjeni Munusamy's right to refuse to testify before Judge Joos Hefer.
The retired former Appeal Court president was appointed by President Thabo Mbeki to determine whether national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy.
From the outset the commission has been battling to obtain documentary evidence to either prove or disprove spying allegations against Ngcuka. – Sapa.
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