SA’s intelligence agency, which was recently rocked by the resignation of director-general Thembi Majola, is stable and equipped to deal with threats of possible foreign meddling in the country’s upcoming elections, presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said.
President Cyril Ramaphosa is engaging in continuous and regular meetings with the country’s ministerial security cluster on this and other security matters, Magwenya said.
This follows Ramaphosa’s earlier warning of a political and economic fightback against SA for its successful litigation against Israel at the International Court of Justice over Jerusalem’s ongoing war with Gaza.
The president further warned the fightback may focus on a “regime change agenda” as the country heads to elections in which the ANC is expected to lose its electoral majority for the first time in three decades.
“The acting DG [Nozuko Bam] is quite well experienced and has been in the system for quite some time and so there is a large degree of stability and any concerns that the president might have would not be around whether the SSA is able to respond to threats because there is instability in the agency,” Magwenya said while briefing reporters on Wednesday.
“The DG of state security left her post at the end of November and the process is under way to identify a successor.”
A presidential enquiry into the SSA found that the spy agency was warned of potential flare-ups, pinpointed possible locations for trouble, and suggested increased police visibility ahead of the July 2021 civil unrest that wiped at least R50bn from GDP. The state capture inquiry’s report released in 2022 also found the agency was hollowed out after billions of rand disappeared from its coffers and could not be traced or recovered. Its assets including ammunition and firearms were also unaccounted for.
The SSA is however now on high alert for any security risks in the country with minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni telling Bloomberg on the sidelines of last week’s cabinet lekgotla that the government is “monitoring, and we are strengthening [its] capacity”.
The ICJ’s decision two weeks ago noted that 25,700 Palestinians had been killed in the conflict that started in October 2023 after Hamas launched an attack on Israel. A reported 1,200 Israelis were killed and about 240 were kidnapped by Hamas militants, resulting in Israel’s military operation in Gaza, which SA says “plausibly” involves various acts of genocide.
The court also ordered Israel “to prevent and punish” incitement to genocide, after noting statements from Israeli officials. Israel must report back to it within 30 days.
“You may have individuals or entities that seek to subvert our democratic gains as well as our democratic order... we have already seen media houses questioning the integrity of our banks who are internationally acclaimed and who are regulated in line with international best practice,” said Magwenya.
“We’ve already seen some kind of backlash that is aimed at SA as a result of the ICJ matter and we anticipate that we will see more.”
Magwenya said the president would announce the election date within 15 days from Thursday.
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