NATIONAL ASSEMBLY  

QUESTION NO. 1002

FOR WRITTEN REPLY

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE INTERNAL QUESTIONS PAPER: 17/06/05

(INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 21-2005)                                                            

N1361E  

Adv. P.S Swart (DA) to ask the Minister for Intelligence:   

Whether any guidelines have been developed to determine how economic intelligence products will be made available to clients; if not, why not; if so, (a) what guidelines and (b) who will constitute clients in this regard? 

REPLY:

(a)   The provision of economic intelligence, as with all our intelligence products, is guided and determined by our Constitution, policy and legislative framework, which sets out the mandate, role and responsibilities of the Intelligence Services.

This enjoins them to ensure a secure environment for all our people, which promotes and fosters initiatives geared at sustaining a society free from want and fear. In doing so, they are required to work in the national interest by identifying those threats and opportunities, which are critical to maintaining our country’s national security and well-being.

In today’s complex global world economic security is a prerequisite for national security. In fact the one cannot be achieved without the other. It is precisely for this reason that our Intelligence Services have also been focusing their energies on identifying those threats and opportunities to our country’s sustainable economic development and growth.

This includes the identification of harmful practices such as corruption, illicit trade and money laundering, which contribute to state weakness and impede economic growth. This also includes the protection of our resources and intellectual property, which constitute the very building blocks of a sound economy.

In addition, our Intelligence Services, as is the case internationally, should seek to alert South African companies investing abroad on the possible threats, opportunities and challenges they may confront, given that the success of their endeavours contributes to the overall growth of our economy, which is in our national interest.

However, in doing so, unlike in the past, they are required, as with all their intelligence efforts, to serve all South Africans, irrespective of political party pedigree or membership. In this regard, may I remind the honourable member of the provision in Chapter 11 of the Constitution, which expressly states that no member of the security services ‘may further, in a partisan manner, any interest of a political party’. Should they do so, they would fall foul of law governing their activities and would be held accountable by our extensive oversight machinery, which monitors their work.

(b)   The main clients of our economic intelligence products remain the relevant Government Departments and parastatals. However, we also recognise that our ability to fulfill our mandate is also dependent on the extent to which we are able to draw on the capacity and resources of those sectors engaged in the economic arena. It is for this reason that our Intelligence Services have been engaged in a broad-based consultative dialogue with the business community to share information and engender co-operative relationships on issues of common interest.