By Prof. Bheki Mngomezulu
STATE security is a focal point in any country worldwide. In America, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) performs this function. Britain has the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), also known as M16.
Each country in Africa has its intelligence service. For example, Ethiopia has the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS), and Kenya has the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS). Rwanda has one of the strongest intelligence services in Africa, the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS). Zimbabwe has its Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
Within this context, South Africa too has its State Security Agency (SSA). The stated responsibility of the SSA is to provide the government with intelligence on domestic and foreign threats or potential threats to national stability, the constitutional order, and the safety and well-being of the people of South Africa.
Under apartheid, South Africa’s intelligence service was politicised. Instead of protecting all the people of the country, it prioritised the safety of white South Africans. Generally, this unit showed hostility against black South Africans who were spied on. The few whites, coloureds and Indians who were part of the liberation struggle were subjected to the same treatment.
At the dawn of democracy, the function and identity of many state departments were revisited. The aim was to rebrand them so that they could reflect the changed political environment and serve all the people of South Africa.
It was in this context that in 2009 the SSA was established to replace the Bureau of State Security (BOSS). The latter had been established during BJ Vorster’s administration to protect the apartheid state and the white minority.
To cut ties with the old order, the SSA vowed to protect all South Africans from domestic and foreign threats. This included ensuring that there were no underground activities which the supporters of the old order were engaged in. This brought a semblance of hope that a credible State Security institution would operate democratically within the confines of the country’s laws.
Sadly, factional politics in the ANC negatively affected the country’s SSA. Various claims that the institution had been politicised during President Zuma’s administration surfaced. Whether these claims were true or false was insignificant. What mattered was the fact that the credibility of the SSA was compromised.
In response, the high-level review panel on SSA was established in 2018. It was chaired by Dr Sydney Mufamadi who was joined by nine other members.
Among the five recommendations was a need to urgently process and promulgate the regulations governing the functioning of the Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI). The fourth recommendation was that it was necessary to review the functioning of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI).
What remains unclear is why the five recommendations made by the Mufamadi panel were not implemented.
Cyril Ramaphosa assumed the Presidency on February 15, 2018, to finish Zuma’s term after the latter was recalled by the ANC. When the ANC won the 2019 general election, albeit with a reduced majority, Ramaphosa officially became the fourth President of South Africa.
On assuming office, Ramaphosa surprised many people when he suddenly complained about the so-called ‘nine wasted years’ under Zuma’s administration. He did not mention that he was Zuma’s deputy in the ANC and government.
Secondly, Ramaphosa promised the nation and the world what he called ‘The New Dawn’ under his administration. ANC comrades applauded him as he flouted the ANC’s guiding principle of collective responsibility.
The SSA became one of the victims of this political euphoria. On August 5, 2021, after the unrest which broke out in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng following the incarceration of Former President Zuma, Ramaphosa decided to place the functions of the SSA in the Presidency.
This decision made a mockery of the Mufamadi report, and the concerns raised about the politicisation of the SSA. If the Agency was politically influenced while being an independent entity, how much more political influence would it suffer from once it was in the Presidency?
One answer lies in the recent announcement made by Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, Minister in the Presidency about the downscaling of the public service.
Was this decision based on rationality and genuine intention to save money or is it a strategy to be used to purge those who are assumed to be Zuma’s loyalists? Should personal differences be allowed to negatively affect national interests? Importantly, what are the risks of using an institution such as SSA to settle political scores? Is there any wisdom in doing that?
These are some of the questions which beg for attention. Ideally, national interests should supersede any other interests – be they political, personal or otherwise.
The professionalisation of SSA should be given priority. The safety of the country is more important than satisfying personal interests or settling political scores.
This is more important now as former liberation movements which later became governing political parties are gradually losing their grip on power. Botswana’s BDP recently lost an election after being in power for 58 years. Mozambique’s FRELIMO won the recent election which has been followed by political turmoil. In Namibia, after 38 years in power, SWAPO went to this year’s polls with no certainty of emerging victorious.
Such developments need a strong intelligence unit. Having porous borders and being drawn into global wars such as those involving Russia and Ukraine, and the Israel/Palestine/Lebanon war, South Africa needs a strong intelligence unit. Any politicised SSA would be a disservice to the country.
If the South African government is serious about the safety of its people it needs professional people to work for the SSA, not politically connected individuals who will only be the eyes and ears of their handlers.
If it was wrong for the apartheid government to politicise the intelligence unit, if it is true that SSA was politicised under Zuma, it would be equally wrong for Ramaphosa to politicise SSA. The decision to place SSA in the Presidency raises questions about its independence.
South Africa’s safety depends on a professional SSA.
PROF BHEKI MNGOMEZULU Director of the Centre for the Advancement of Non-Racialism and Democracy at the Nelson Mandela University.
** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media.