South Africa’s intelligence agency needs speedy reform - or it must be shut down

JANE DUNCAN

SOUTH Africa’s civilian intelligence service, the State Security Agency, is a broken institution. It is meant to provide intelligence to forewarn the country about national security threats.

Powerful individuals aligned to former president Jacob Zuma, presumably at his behest, repurposed the institution to help him maintain his grip on power.

It was one of many institutions that were repurposed for improper personal or political gain during his tenure (May 2009 to February 2018): a process that has become known as state capture.

His successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, promised in 2022 to reform the agency so it would serve its original mission. He committed to returning it to the pre-2009 era of having separate domestic and foreign branches, each led by its own director-general.

This decision is a major positive development. The Zuma administration merged the two branches and abused the centralised model to protect the president from criticism.