Question NW2368 to the President of the Republic
05 January 2021 - NW2368
Kohler-Barnard, Ms D to ask the President of the Republic
(1)Whether, with reference to the High-level Review Panel into the State Security Agency, he has established a task team, consisting of expertise within and outside the State Security Agency, to explore in detail the practical and other implications of the re-separation of the services and other possible architectural changes; if not, by what date will such a task team be established; if so, (a) on what date was the task team established, (b) what is the (i) name and (ii) professional designation of each person serving on the task team, (c) what are the details of the mandate of the task team, (d) on which dates has the task team met since its establishment and (e) what are the details of the progress the task team has made in exploring the practical and other implications of architectural changes to the Republic’s intelligence structures; (2) whether, in line with the report’s recommendations, the titles of State Security Agency and Minister and/or Ministry of State Security will be changed to reflect the determination to return the role and philosophy of the democratic intelligence capacity back to their constitutional origins; if not, what is the position in this regard; if so, what are the relevant details? NW2943E
Reply:
A Ministerial Implementation Task Team (MITT) has been established in accordance with the recommendations of the High Level Review Panel (HLRP) report. The Ministerial Implementation Task Team was established on 28 July 2020.
The MITT is chaired by the Deputy Minister for the State Security Agency (SSA), Mr Zizi Kodwa, who is the political champion for the task team. The Deputy Chairperson is Mr Thabo Mokwena, who has qualifications in economics, corporate finance and strategy. Mr Mokwena has experience as an Accounting Officer for SALGA.
The MITT is also comprised of external professionals and experts. The external experts includes former members of the intelligence community, academics and other experts in the field of security, intelligence, policy, legal and legislative formulation. Once the process of vetting external members is concluded, their names will be made available.
The MITT further consists of internal experts from various branches within the SSA who among them have a range of strategic and analytical expertise in intelligence, policy, legal and human resources, among others.
The names of members of the SSA form part of the broader operational framework and therefore remain classified and privileged in accordance with Section 10 (4) (a) of the Intelligence Services Act 65 of 2002, as amended, which protects the identities of members of the Agency.
The mandate of the MITT is to unpack the recommendations of the Panel into a concrete plan of action and coordinate the implementation of the recommendations. It will develop a comprehensive strategy and business case for implementation. The MITT will also ensure the review of white paper, and finalise the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill (GILAB) legislation.
Since its establishment, the MITT has met on the following dates:
- 5 August 2020 (MITT virtual meeting)
- 11 August 2020 (Technical task team meeting)
- 04 September 2020 (Workstream management meeting)
A draft Business Case and draft General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill has been developed and contain practical and other implications of architectural changes of the civilian intelligence structures. Furthermore, regulations and policies are being reviewed in this regard.
The MITT is mandated to advise and provide options on the nomenclature and the philosophical posture of the civilian intelligence services.