Zondo Commission’s report on South Africa’s intelligence agency is important but flawed

SOUTH Africa’s judicial probe into state capture and corruption, the Zondo Commission, has concluded that the State Security Agency was integral to the capture of the state by corrupt elements. These included former president Jacob Zuma’s friends, the Gupta family.

The agency has been unstable for some time. Previous investigations have made findings to improve the performance of civilian intelligence. Yet problems relating to poor performance and politicisation persist. They escalated during Zuma’s tenure.

The commission’s hearings were remarkable for an institution that had become used to operating secretly. Spies testified in detail, and in public, about what had gone wrong at the agency during the Zuma era (May 2014 to February 2018). Some did so at great personal risk.

I have researched intelligence and surveillance, and served on the High Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency. In my view, the Zondo report is a globally significant example of radical transparency around intelligence abuses. But it lacks the detailed findings and