ISS Seminar, Cape Town: A New Intelligence Regime for South Africa?

Date: 2012-07-25

Venue: , ISS Cape Town , Second Floor , The Armoury Building , 160 Sir Lowry Road , Buchanan Square , Woodstock

RSVP:
Ms. Shahnaaz Parker
Email: [email protected]

A New Intelligence Regime for South Africa?

Understanding the implications of the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill

The South African General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill (GILAB) is currently under discussion in Parliament. The Bill, introduced to the legislature by the Minister of State Security, aims to amend and repeal key intelligence legislation, and create a more centralised intelligence system in South Africa. Parliament’s ad hoc committee on the GILAB is currently deliberating this piece of legislation.

The intelligence services fulfill an important security function in democratic societies, where they are responsible for the gathering of intelligence information and countering national threats. By virtue of their mandate, they are vested with special intrusive powers and operate with a high degree of secrecy to acquire information. Without effective democratic control and oversight, intelligence services the world over have the potential to abuse power.

While it is acknowledged that the reform of the intelligence services in South Africa is vital, critics of the Bill argue that the current proposed legislation contains possible threats to the constitutionally guaranteed right to privacy, without sufficiently adequate oversight mechanisms. It has been argued that the law must find a balance between the operational demands made by the Department of State Security and various intelligence agencies to fulfill their mandate while not unjustifiably limiting an open and democratic society. The current legislative process, although technical, is therefore critical as it presents an opportunity to address some of these weaknesses.

The ISS is hosting a seminar that will analyse the implications of the GILAB with representatives of State Security and experts who have made submissions on the draft law.  

Speakers:

Chair:

Please Note:  All ISS Events occur under the ISS Rules, which means no attribution without specific permission, unless indicated otherwise.