The State Security Agency (SSA) will soon appoint an independent forensic firm to investigate allegations of corruption by its members that were highlighted by a high-level panel report.
A number of corruption allegations were also raised by some witnesses at the Zondo commission of inquiry into state capture.
Deputy state security minister Zizi Kodwa said in a speech on the agency’s budget vote debate in the National Assembly on Tuesday that the appointment of the forensic investigator was one of the key recommendations of the high-level review panel.
“We continue to support all interventions and efforts to professionalise the agency,” Kodwa said, adding that the agency was also implementing the recommendations of the high-level review panel to enhance accountability and transparency. Oversight was also being strengthened.
“We have also made significant progress in stabilising the management of the agency and to curtail the practice of prolonged acting periods in line with the recommendations of the high-level review panel,” Kodwa said.
So far five cases had been referred to the police for further investigation and prosecution, Kodwa told MPs.
The agency’s image was further dented when intelligence inspector-general Setlhomamaru Dintwe told commission chair Raymond Zondo about the widespread looting of cash meant for operations by operatives of the agency. The funds were used for personal use as well as to fund factions of the ANC and parallel intelligence operations.
Dintwe told Zondo that three ministers — of police, defence and state security — had tried to dissuade him from testifying before the commission.
Sydney Mufamadi, chair of the high-level review panel on the SSA, also told the commission how hundreds of millions of rand were siphoned off the agency for fraud and corruption and for projects to support former president Jacob Zuma. The panel’s report submitted in 2019 highlighted high levels of secrecy in the SSA as a problem.
These allegations were substantiated by acting director-general Loyisa Jafta in his evidence at the commission. He said that billions of rand in assets had been lost to the agency because proper controls were routinely disregarded.
Nearly 70% of vacancies had been filled, with the remainder in various recruitment stages and Kodwa expressed confidence that this would bring long overdue stability and certainty to the agency with a spillover effect on efficiency and performance.
Measures had also been introduced to ensure that public funds were properly safeguarded and used economically. Internal structures such as internal audit, risk management and management services were key elements for ensuring good governance and internal administrative control.
“The agency has come a long way in ensuring that systems that improve governance are developed and implemented,” Kodwa said.
“Notwithstanding these measures, corruption remains a threat not only to the SA economy, but is a challenge to some government entities and departments. The agency is not immune to this scourge.”
The agency has uncovered some elements of corrupt activities among its members, which Kodwa said had been made possible by weak oversight of governance and management.
Jerome Maake, chair of parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence, said in his speech that the committee believed the agency was proceeding too slowly in implementing the recommendations of the high-level review panel. He said the budget of the agency for upgrading technology had to be increased “exponentially” in future to avoid embarrassment in the outside world.
“If the technology and equipment used by the State Security Agency is so obsolete that it cannot even trace simple WhatApp, then we are in serious trouble,” Maake said.
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