President Cyril Ramaphosa’s June 2019 State of the Nation Address listed state security as one of the institutions that had been affected by state capture.
At the time, he promised South Africans that decisive steps to root out corruption in those organizations were underway and already producing results.
Ramaphosa is expected to revisit the question of intelligence on Tuesday evening after a series of events, including Parliament being set ablaze and the July 2021 unrest that saw infrastructure being damaged and widespread looting in the country.
This week will also be the first time he addresses the nation since major shifts at the State Security Agency.
When David Mahlobo was Intelligence Minister, he gave the country this explanation after the state failed to stop scores of schools from being torched in Vuwani.
“If you are a detective, you can’t actually scream and say you are a detective. Let me make an example – we knew Vuwani and Malamulele, a year ago, that it would happen,” Mahlobo said.
Little did South Africans know that what would follow are moments that confirm the lack of capacity in some of the institutions meant to protect their democracy.
Even the shadow that keeps guard overnight, has been infiltrated by corruption.
The Musanda complex robbery, the high-level panel report by Former Minister Sydney Mufamadi, testimony by former SSA acting director-general Loyiso Jafta at the Zondo commission have all signaled that something is wrong in the world of our spooks.
“There would be projects that would be intended to enhance the political fortunes of the ANC,” Jafta said.
SSA monies have also made their way into African National Congress (ANC) factional battles, with the country’s spies at times said to have been serving former President Jacob Zuma’s personal interests.
His successor Cyril Ramaphosa made numerous changes to the agency following last year’s tragedy, which also saw intelligence once again falling short when it comes to halting mayhem and destruction in the country.
“This is also done by a number of other governments around the world. This is to ensure that the country’s domestic and foreign intelligence services more effectively enable the president to exercise his responsibility to safeguard the safety and security of the nation,” Ramaphosa said.
Many hope that this week, the president will list national security as one of his key priorities along with some insights of what went wrong last year and ways to avoid it.
-EWN
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