By Levy Masiteng
A former Brigadier General in the South African Air Force has been sentenced to six months in federal prison in the United States after admitting to acting as an agent of the Republic of South Africa and making false statements while applying for a US government security clearance.
Portia Anyamba, 59, currently of Knoxville, Tennessee, was sentenced last month by US District Judge Thomas A. Varlan in the Eastern District of Tennessee.
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According to a statement from the United States Attorney’s Office, Anyamba pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of the Republic of South Africa in violation of US federal law and to making false statements on her security clearance application.
She was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay a US$9,500 (About R155 000) fine.
“Anyamba knowingly acted as an agent of a foreign country which placed national security at risk,” FBI Nashville Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly said.
The sentence followed an investigation by the FBI and the United States Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, which concluded that Anyamba was operating in the United States under the direction and control of the Republic of South Africa while employed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Tennessee.
According to court documents, Anyamba worked as a Programme Management Operational Specialist in the National Security Programme Office at ORNL during 2023 and 2024.
The laboratory, established as part of the Manhattan Project during World War II, is a key US Department of Energy facility involved in energy research, innovation, and national security programmes.
The statement said that during the investigation, FBI agents learned that Anyamba maintained regular contact with an intelligence officer from South Africa’s State Security Agency (SSA), identified in court records only as “IO-1”.
The officer was described as the SSA’s then-Deputy Chief of Station and former Acting Chief of Station at the South African Embassy in Washington, DC. Court records showed that in February 2024, the intelligence officer arranged to meet Anyamba in Knoxville.
“FBI agents surveilled the planned encounter and watched as Anyamba met with IO-1 and another individual known by the FBI to be affiliated with the Republic of South Africa. Although the group originally met at a restaurant in a Knoxville commercial district, they soon drove to a nearby hotel,” the statement reads.
Authorities said another meeting was planned later that year. Before the meeting, the intelligence officer allegedly instructed Anyamba to “please remember to also bring the laptop with”.
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On November 7, 2024, FBI personnel intercepted Anyamba before the planned meeting in Knoxville’s Turkey Creek shopping district and retrieved a laptop computer from her custody.
At the time, Anyamba was undergoing the process of obtaining a US government security clearance that would have granted her access to classified information.
As part of that process, she completed a Standard Form 86 (SF-86), a document used to assess eligibility for security clearances. Prosecutors said she falsely stated that she had no continuing contact with foreign nationals and had not been in contact with representatives of a foreign government within the previous seven years.
“Oak Ridge National Laboratory is a uniquely important Department of Energy facility. Our Office and our law enforcement partners will remain diligent in ensuring that its employees – and all government personnel entrusted with access to sensitive information – are trustworthy, candid, and pose no risk to national security. We are committed to protecting the Laboratory and supporting the important work it does for our nation,” United States Attorney Francis M. Hamilton III said.
The statement said Anyamba had also contacted individuals she had listed as references and told them not to mention her connections with the South African embassy during background interviews.
“All across the country, each and every day, the FBI and our strategic partners will continue to work together to review intelligence and investigate threats to our national security in order to protect our citizens from foreign and domestic attacks,” Special Agent Reilly said.
“This successful joint investigation highlights the benefits of the strong relationship between DOE Counterintelligence and the FBI Agent in the Lab programme,” said Joshua D. Martineau, Deputy Director for Counterintelligence at the Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence.
