To spy or not to spy? Intelligence and democracy in South Africa
The nature of the role and function of the South African intelligence community and the role of the 'secret' sector in the security apparatus of the s
As the title of this series of paper suggests, there are two primary issues for discussion. On the one hand, the question 'To spy or not to spy?' has been posed. This asks us to consider the nature of the role and function of the South African intelligence community and the role of the 'secret' sector in the security apparatus of the state. On the other hand, the issue of the relationship between intelligence and democracy in South Africa is also considered. Seeking to establish and maintain democratic control of the intelligence sector is a challenge even for mature democracies. It is important to consider and evaluate how the South African intelligence community is grappling simultaneously with meeting the democratic demands of openness and accountability while at the same time maintaining the secrecy deemed necessary for intelligence to function effectively.
Contributors:
Ronnie Kasrils was appointed to President Thabo Mbeki’s cabinet as Minister for Intelligence Services after the third democratic elections in South Africa on 27 April 2004. Prior to his appointment, Kasrils served as the Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry (1999- 2004) and Deputy Minister of Defence (1994 -1999). The Sharpeville massacre prompted Kasrils to join the African National Congress (ANC) in 1960, serving as the secretary of the ANC-aligned Congress of Democrats in Natal until it was banned in 1962. A member of Umkhonto weSizwe (MK), the ANC’s military wing, since its inception in 1961, he was involved in its first operation. In 1963 he became the Commander of the Natal Regional Command of MK. In 1983, Kasrils was appointed Chief of MK Intelligence. He served on the ANC’s Politico-Military Council in Lusaka from 1985, on the National Executive Committee from 1987, and on the South African Communist Party’s Central Committee from 1985. From 1991 to 1994, Kasrils also headed the ANC’s Campaign Section at the organisation’s headquarters in Johannesburg, was an active participant in the negotiations between MK and the former South African Defence Force and a member of the Transitional Executive Council ’s Sub-Council on Defence.
Sandra Botha is the leader of the opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the National Assembly. Her political career includes her appointment as Deputy Director of the Independent Electoral Commission in the Free State in 1998. After the 1999 election she was selected as the Free State Democratic Party Representative to the National Council of Provinces where she was appointed Caucus Leader from 2000-2004. In 2004, the Free State Electoral College of the DA placed Sandra first on the National Assembly list and in the same year she became the first DA MP to be elected as House Chairperson of the National Assembly.
Imtiaz Fazel is a chartered accountant and holds the position of Chief Operating Officer in the Office of the Inspector General for Intelligence.
Barry Gilder joined the ANC’s armed wing – Umkhonto we Sizwe – in 1979 and in 1980, the ANC’s Intelligence Branch (DIS) in Angola. From 1983 to 1989 he headed DIS in Botswana. In 1994, he was appointed to the South African Secret Service (SASS). In January 2000 he moved to South Africa’s domestic intelligence service – the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) – as Deputy Director General Operations. In May 2003 he was appointed as Director-General of the Department of Home Affairs. In March 2005 he was appointed Coordinator for Intelligence, where he served until his retirement in October 2007.
Sam Sole has been a journalist for 20 years. Sole’s work has focused on exposing the ‘hidden hand’ of the state, both during the apartheid era and since 1994. His first major investigation related to circumstances surrounding the Goniwe murders and the activities of the so-called Hammer Unit, a Citizen Force special unit used for undercover military operations in the Eastern Cape. In late 1994 and 1995, Sole and veteran journalist Jean Le May broke the story of the existence of South Africa’s Chemical and Biological Warfare programme and the role of Dr Wouter Basson in it. In 2003, he won the Vodacom Journalist of the Year award for breaking the story of the Scorpions investigation of then Deputy President Jacob Zuma. In the same year Sole won the Mondi award for Investigative Journalism with colleague Stefaans Brummer. Sole and Brummer worked together on the Oilgate expose of 2005.
Chantal Kisoon is deputy director at the South African Human Rights Commission. She specialises in monitoring the implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act within the South African public service.
Melissa Moore is the head of the Law Clinic at the Freedom of Expression Institute based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The purpose of the FXI Law Clinic is to promote the objectives of freedom of expression and access to information through providing legal services for litigation and precedent setting cases in relation to freedom of expression.
Lauren Hutton was appointed as researcher in the Security Sector Governance Programme at the ISS Tshwane (Pretoria) office in January 2007. She joined the ISS as a consultant for the Southern African Human Security Programme in 2006. She works on the African Security Sector Governance Project and focuses on parliamentary oversight of the security sector, with specific interest in the governance of the intelligence sector. Other fields of interest include gender and defence and broader issues of security sector reform in Africa. She initiated a project on the democratic governance of the intelligence sector in January 2007.
