Explosive SSA report states how Jacob Zuma abused intelligence

A report on the country’s intelligence agency has laid bare how former president Jacob Zuma used its machinery and resources for political ends. 

The redacted report has called for widescale reform of the State Security Agency (SSA) and how it is held to account in the aftermath of Zuma’s decade-long destructive influence on its operations. 

Allegations have long been made about Zuma’s impact on the intelligence structures, and the report, which was conducted as part of a high-level review of the SSA, has confirmed this.

The report and the recommendations, compiled by a panel chaired by Sydney Mufamadi, has been handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is still studying it. 

The panel recommended that the SSA should again be split up into foreign and domestic intelligence structures. This was announced by Ramaphosa in his state of the nation address in February.

Ramaphosa also announced the re-establishment of a national security council, in line with the recommendations.

One of the main findings regarded the politicisation of the SSA, which was  established out of an amalgamation of the domestic and foreign intelligence structures after Zuma came into office in 2009. 

The panel found that from about 2005, when Zuma was axed as deputy president by then-president Thabo Mbeki, there had been growing factionalisation in intelligence, mirroring those within the ANC.

This was partly aggravated by the fact that a large portion of the upper management of intelligence services had come from ANC struggle backgrounds, and in some cases were seemingly unable to separate their professional responsibilities from their political inclinations.

This became “progressively worse” during Zuma’s nine years in office with  “parallel structures being created that directly served the personal and political interests of the president and, in some cases, the relevant ministers”.

The panel said this was in complete breach of the constitution. 

Siyabonga Cwele first held the post of state security minister during Zuma's first term in office. David Mahlobo, who was Zuma's staunch ally,  took over from 2014 until 2017. 

Zuma’s move to amalgamate the National Intelligence Agency and the SA Secret Service, was described as a “monumental blunder”, as it did not achieve its stated intentions of reducing expenditure, effecting better co-ordination and reducing duplication.

The SSA increasingly used covert structures and projects, such as the Principal Agent Network (PAN), which was created by another Zuma ally, Arthur Fraser, who has since been removed as the head of intelligence.

Ramaphosa’s decision to move Fraser to correctional services in 2018 is being challenged in court by the DA.

The panel found that the disproportionate application of secrecy in the SSA was stifling effective accountability and facilitating serious noncompliance including “blatant criminality”.

It also found that due to wide-ranging resource abuse, the SSA became a “cash cow” for many of its members, as well as external stakeholders.

The joint standing committee on intelligence (JSCI) also faced criticism with the panel saying it seemed as if it played little role in curbing the infractions of the SSA, and that no effective oversight was carried out.

Committee members require top secret clearance, and meetings are not open to the public. The panel found that the committee itself was subject to ANC factionalism. 

The panel quoted a member of the committee who said it had “lost control” of their oversight role and that three annual reports had not been presented to parliament.

The report has also recommended that urgent forensic and other investigations be instituted into the breaches of financial and other controls at the SSA.