15 Nov 2007: ISS Seminar, Pretoria: Intelligence Governance in South Africa

Register Online: ISS Seminar: Intelligence Governance in South Africa
Pretoria, 15 November 2007

This seminar will launch the ISS Occasional Paper entitled: Looking Beneath the Cloak: An Analysis of Intelligence Governance in South Africa by Lauren Hutton.

The governance of the intelligence sector presents a unique set of challenges to democratic governance and the practice of the principles of transparency, accountability and participation. South Africa has experienced a transition to democracy, which has been accompanied by reforms to the security sector of the state. The intelligence services have not been immune to the deepening vibrancy of the democratic South African state. Mechanisms of control and accountability have been established and democratic oversight as prescribed by the Constitution is exercised through a parliamentary committee. The reputation of the intelligence community has, however, been tarnished by scandals, allegations of misuse of power and position, partisanship, lack of professionalism and allegations of poor-quality intelligence products. In general, there has also been a lack of public engagement on issues relating to the intelligence sector and a lack of public interrogation of the role of the intelligence services in a democratic South Africa.

The seminar and paper seek to address issues relating to the democratic governance of the intelligence sector in South African and the challenges of intelligence sector reform as part of the larger security sector reform debate.

Date: 15 November 2007
Time: 10h30 – 12h30 (a light lunch will be served)
Venue: ISS Pretoria, Block C, Brooklyn Court, Veale Stree, New Muckleneuck (Parking available in Brooklyn Mall and at ABSA court).
RSVP: Lauren Hutton, email: [email protected], tel: 012 346 9500, fax: 012 460 0997