South African Intelligence Services

Meeting the challenges of the 21^st Century:

Spies, Soothsayers, Sangomas

 

Budget Vote Address

By Minister Ronnie Kasrils, MP

17 May 2005

 

Chairperson, Honourable Members:

 

Traversing ‘the backstairs of history’

 

In reflecting on the role played by intelligence agents one may liken their endeavours to the ups and downs in the game of snakes and ladders, traversing as they do ‘…the backstairs of history, century after century, affecting the future of great and small nations and the lives and happiness of multitudes’.[1]

 

Throughout the ages examples abound of the importance of intelligence as indispensable to a nation’s security and interests. Leaders not only gathered information on conditions at home but were also concerned about events in distant lands as these impacted on their ability to safeguard domestic security.

 

King Shaka’s relationship with the first European traders is illustrative of this where it is related that ‘…when the white people came…Shaka wanted to find out everything they knew about battles, weapons and their way of life…’ how their King ruled, how they had managed to cross the sea ‘…how their coin money worked, what medicines they had to cure illnesses…what made their weapons spit fire…[2]’

 

Like his contemporaries he skillfully used his amakhangela and izinhloli – his look-outs and spies – as his eyes and ears to collect the information required.

 

Interconnectedness of the world and the threats we face

 

We can learn from the wisdom of old, even in today’s complex world, where the threats confronting us are so interconnected.

 

A United Nations report on Threats, Challenges and Change[3] states:  security threats do not respect national boundaries - from invasion, war and conflict within states they extend to poverty, infectious diseases and environmental degradation. They encompass the spread and possible use of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. They include terrorism and transnational crime.

 

While differences in power have historically determined the gravest threats to survival, the fact remains that the mutual vulnerability of rich and poor nations has never been starker.

 

Today’s threats – ‘where more than one in every six human beings, live on less than a dollar a day’[4] - encapsulate the inextricable link between development and security. A more secure world is only possible if poor countries are given a real chance to develop as there can be no security without development and no development without security.

 

The challenge of prevention

 

This interconnectedness requires every state to co-operate with others to make themselves secure, so as to prevent far off threats becoming imminent and those imminent becoming destructive. And the key to prevention is to a large extent dependent on the capacity and role played by intelligence agencies in forewarning nations and bolstering their efforts in responding to them.

 

The South African Intelligence Services have long recognised the interconnectedness of the world and have actively been engaged in preventative action in co-operation with other security institutions.

 

There shall be peace and friendship

 

Their efforts are guided by the vision contained in the Freedom Charter, the fiftieth Anniversary of which we celebrate this year. The clause in the Charter declaring ‘there shall be peace and friendship’, is central to what we are attempting to articulate. Not only does it highlight the link between our own struggle for democracy and that of freedom loving people world-wide, but it also enjoins us to work in co-operation with other nations to secure ‘world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation and not war’.

 

This is illuminated by the Allied victory over Nazi Germany sixty years ago. That lesson should not escape the international community: unity of purpose on the basis of just objectives will prevail in the determined struggle against any adversary.

 

And given that our own national security and well-being is so closely linked to Africa’s renewal, the work of our Services has been tied to furthering peace, stability, democracy and sustainable development on the Continent.

 

From Burundi to the Democratic Republic of Congo; from Cote d’ Ivoire to Sudan, we have been at the forefront of supporting our nation’s peacemaking efforts.

 

Whilst the SADC region and Africa is our external priority we remain an international role-player of note. This includes a contribution to the resolution of conflict and concern for prolonged and dangerous disputes such as those afflicting the Middle East, which cannot be resolved by illegal settlements, military occupation and unilateral impositions.

 

There shall be houses security and comfort

 

Honourable Members, our Services have also long recognised the interconnection between threats. They are guided by another clause in the Freedom Charter, which asserts that ‘there shall be houses, security and comfort’, affirming the indivisibility of the relationship between security and development. And our national security doctrine places freedom from want, together with freedom from fear, at the core.

 

This is reflected in our actions to identify those institutional impediments that impact on our efforts to push back the frontiers of poverty. This is illustrated by the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorism and Related Activities Act that comes into effect on 20^th May and forms part of our preventative measures in the fight against terrorism, and the review of the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act in order to strengthen it.

 

Although there has been much media speculation over the possible effects of international terrorism on our country, we can say that we do not discern any imminent threat. Since no country can claim immunity from this scourge, we remain vigilant.

 

 

Maintenance of human rights and the rule of law

 

The measures are broad and comprehensive. They place the maintenance of human rights and the rule of law at the centre, for this is the basis of our democracy and these are the very values that terrorists often target. And in utilising these measures no section of our community will be victimised simply by virtue of their culture and creed.

 

Our vigilance has yielded results. We have seen the capture of mercenaries plotting the overthrow of the Government of Equatorial Guinea and the arrest and deportation of wanted international terrorists seeking to hide in our country. Other significant breakthroughs include the disruption of urban terror activities and the exposure of a network involved in nuclear proliferation.

 

We will use our powers where necessary, but these will not be abused as was the case under apartheid. Today’s intelligence operatives are inculcated in the spirit of our democratic ethos.

 

Honourable Members, whilst we have achieved the most remarkable political stability in South Africa’s history I draw your attention to some local trends which need attention.

 

I refer particularly to the increase of violence in KwaZulu Natal, the taxi violence and recent instability at municipal level at a number of localities around the country. Legitimate protest is a healthy facet of any true democracy but those instigating violence must know that the law will deal with transgressors.

 

Foreknowledge

 

Whilst we have performed well, we must examine the big question: at a time when intelligence agencies are faced with complicated challenges – are we making a difference?

 

A Canadian review on intelligence reform[5] illustrates that despite the fact that practitioners are ‘spies and not soothsayers’, never before have intelligence services come under such public scrutiny for their limited capacity to prevent looming threats.

 

If we are to strengthen capacity, we need to consider the limitations. Let us consider the phrase ‘spies are not soothsayers’ or ‘sangomas’[6] by way of illustration. What do we learn from the soothsayer’s warning to Caesar ‘beware the Ides of March’ or the sangomas warnings in the times of Shaka of the intentions of the Europeans? They may have reinforced their prophesies by invoking the spiritual world – in ancient Rome they read the entrails of a chicken and here we threw the bones - but they kept their ears close to the ground and keenly studied human behaviour and distant events. A Khoisan incantation reflects ‘… a dream talks false … [it] can mislead you but the premonition talks the truth; the pulsing awareness which says: somebody is coming…’[7]

 

Whilst we do not advocate premonitions or using the medium of spirits, the sangoma analogy reminds us that the crux of intelligence is foreknowledge. It is not about describing events as journalists do in reporting that ‘Caesar has been assassinated’ but rather to indicate that ‘Brutus and the Senators are plotting to kill Caesar on March 15^th’.

 

So where does foreknowledge come from. The father of intelligence, Sun Tzu, living in a period when belief in the gods was all pervading insisted that foreknowledge must be obtained not from ‘…the spirits… but…from men [and women][8]’ who know the enemy situation.

 

Importance of capacity

 

This illustration focuses on the requirement for enhanced capacity in today’s world:  the need for highly trained, skilled and fearless officers who are able to utilise the modern technology and master the environment in all conditions; possess the ability to collect, process and interpret both covert and open-source information from the mind-blowing data with which we are bombarded; and remain true to the integrity of a service where nothing but an objective product is presented to leaders in a timely fashion, telling them what they should know not what they want to hear.

 

The extensive reports on the failures to foresee the September 11 2001 catastrophe and the pre-war intelligence assessment on Iraq make for instructive reading. We now know that the 9/11 attacks could possibly have been prevented by piecing together information at hand. But the dots had not been joined; the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle had not been put together.

 

A US Senate Commission Report states ‘the failure…to accurately analyse and describe the intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq in the National Intelligence Estimate, was the result of a combination of systemic weaknesses, primarily in the analysis of trade craft, compounded by a lack of information sharing, poor management and intelligence collection’[9].

 

 

 

Enhancing our core business

 

Those words focus on enhancing core business capacity; what I refer to as the holy trinity - the collection of quality information; its sophisticated evaluation and analysis; and timely dissemination to decision makers. Collectors must find the gold nuggets in the gravel; analysts must see the wood and not just the trees; decision makers must be empowered with foreknowledge.

 

Partnerships and the need to share

 

The Report also reflects the importance of co-operation and partnerships, both at home and abroad, in overcoming the resistant bureaucratic cultures to information sharing, which has often left intelligence services uncreative and out of touch with the situation.

 

A former Spanish Prime Minister recently stated that if a dozen or so leading intelligence services put on the table everything they had on terrorism we would have 95% of the picture[10]. Indeed we have been urging our international colleagues that the time-honoured ‘need to know’ principle should be replaced, where possible, with the ‘need to share’.

 

Anticipating the threats

 

It bears repeating: whilst we are neither soothsayers nor sangomas, anticipation must be our holy grail. To meet the challenges we must strengthen collection, analysis and dissemination through mutually beneficial partnerships.

 

This goes to the heart of President Mbeki’s injunction in his State of the Nation address last year, where he committed Government to enhance the capacity of the Intelligence Services. His statement speaks directly to the Ten Priorities for action that I announced during last year’s Budget Address, aimed at focusing on our core business and strengthening our capabilities in order to bolster and sustain the quality performance of the Services for the 21^st Century. And I am pleased to report progress here today; contending that we are making a difference and give value for money.

 

Progress on the ten priorities

 

Key to our aims was optimum utilisation of resources by ensuring the allocation of sufficient funds to core business and the necessary adjustment in personnel, operating and capital allocations. Of particular concern was that our salary bill was rapidly overtaking our budget allocation, with the consequent negative impact on what is available for operational and capital expenditure.

 

Our senior management has been working hard to achieve the necessary realignment through a range of judicious measures. I would like to commend the Directors-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the South African Secret Service (SASS), whose dedicated approach to resolving this challenge has helped us turn the corner.

 

Whilst we have just opened a new headquarters for the National Communication Centre (NCC) and continue to invest in high-tech equipment, they have also managed to make their contribution without detriment to their operational activities.

 

We have also made considerable adjustments with regard to the functions of COMSEC – the envisaged electronic security equipment provider - by housing it within the NCCs ambit and thereby avoiding costly external property expenditure.

 

We acknowledge the co-operation of the South African Academy for Intelligence (SANAI), in agreeing to trim their sails and forgo the major building construction programme they had envisaged. This was not only necessitated by our financial realignments, but also by a need to focus on creating capacity for core training. In the meantime tertiary qualifications where necessary will be catered for through partnerships with other institutions. This approach will provide a greater concentration of effort and enable us to provide quality training to the many African Services knocking on our door.

 

With respect to the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (NICOC), measures adopted will boost analytical capacity and development of the National Early Warning Centre as our flagship geared to anticipating key developments.

 

I am very pleased to announce that we are able to embark on the long awaited and much needed implementation of the Non-Statutory Force pension dispensation as a direct result of our financial adjustments. This together with the exit strategy that it enables will create greater flexibility by freeing up posts.

 

Time does not allow us to interrogate all of our ten priorities, but in dealing with our central budgetary challenge, which links to all the priorities, I believe that we provide insight into the extensive progress underway. This relates to adjustments in favour of targeted recruitment and training, capacity building at all levels including the provinces and abroad, obligations in Africa and the partnerships we are developing both domestically and internationally.

 

To complete the picture I need to report that there has been progress in the area of co-ordination with our domestic Services. This is being facilitated through the relevant Ministers and officials, with links to Crime and Defence Intelligence, Justice and Home Affairs, the Directorate of Special Operations, Financial Intelligence Centre, South African Revenue Service, and of course greater synergy on the ground where it matters most. However, while much has been achieved much more remains to be done. We must continue to focus efforts in a shared and co-ordinated manner. We must ensure that we eliminate unnecessary rivalry and turf battles.

 

Cabinet has been pre-occupied with overseeing the strengthening of security at our ports of entry, of which the new National Immigration Branch of Home Affairs is an important development. I am proud to be able to disclose that we have transferred high level intelligence officers to strengthen this capacity.

 

As Honourable Members are aware we have been grappling with strengthening the Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS) and our vetting capacity. NIA’s new Director-General, Mr. Billy Masetlha, has been reviewing the various proposals that were before us. As a result our approach to the MISS is to draft regulations that will ensure enforceability throughout Government Departments.

 

In respect of vetting, there has been an improvement by NIA in turn-around times. The key route being proposed, however, is that instead of having to invest in an enormous Directorate in NIA, vetting capacity up to elementary levels of clearance will be built within each Government Department under NIA’s supervision. These and other proposals will soon be presented to Cabinet and we will naturally be consulting with the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI).

 

Our new National Co-ordinator, Mr. Barry Gilder, has met with some of his counterparts abroad and is engaging his staff on the challenges of improving the intelligence product. This week he hosts representatives of the business community and civil society, in a consultative conference on the development of the National Security Framework. Chairperson, permit me to welcome all leaders of business, academia, religious and civil society here today. Their appreciation of the threats and opportunities we face is important in furthering our national interests.

 

Director-General: SASS, Mr. Tim Dennis, has taken me at my word regarding a focus on international partnerships. He has had me travelling in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

 

I particularly wish to highlight his contribution to the building of the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa (CISSA). May I take this opportunity to welcome all the representatives from African missions present with us as well as those from other continents, who truly grace this event. 

 

The need for dedication and discipline

 

There are other honourable members of the Services who traverse the ‘backstairs of history’. They deserve recognition but this cannot happen in public. I pointedly use the term ‘honourable’. Voltaire described them as ‘intriguers’, but it is after all an honourable profession - where for the good, patriotic and honest souls of a democracy - the calling is of noble service to ones country and people.

 

Today we honour the backroom men and women of our Services in this the tenth Anniversary year established as they were on 1^st January 1995. They played a key part in our negotiated settlement and creation of a democratic South Africa. Theirs is not an easy profession - the dedicated work long hours often at considerable risk. Yet when things go wrong they suffer in silence as do their loved ones. A grateful nation must never forsake them.

 

These are the effective, vigilant, accountable intelligence personnel whom we stated last year our country needs. What we expect of them is the discipline and dedication of inspired and courageous professionals on whom we can rely. We expect fortitude and the best of their abilities and cannot demand anything less. We will do everything to enhance their skills and careers but we will not tolerate any shirkers nor accommodate disreputable behaviour.

 

Together with senior management I say that we expect of our Services the work ethic exemplified by the President of this country, if we are to achieve the excellence we seek!

 

In appreciation

 

We have strong oversight in the intelligence community and it is with gratitude that I acknowledge the Inspector-General, Mr. Zola Ngcakani and the Chairperson of the JSCI, Dr. Siyabonga Cwele and Honourable Members.

 

My appreciation to the Directors-General of NIA and SASS; National Co-ordinator of NICOC; the Principal of SANAI, Mr. Mphakama Mbete; the Chairperson of the Intelligence Services Council, Dr. Sizakele Sixgashe; the NCC management; and indeed all committed men and women of our Services. In addition, I salute the Head of my Ministry, Ms. Sandy Africa and Ministerial staff who cannot begin to imagine how much I appreciate their efforts. My gratitude to former Director-General: NIA, Mr. Vusi Mavimbela, and former NICOC Co-ordinator, Mr Jeff Maqetuka, now Director-General: Home Affairs, for the sterling service they rendered.

 

Conclusion

 

In conclusion, I wish to acknowledge the contributions of the late Dullah Omar, Joe Nhlanhla and Lindiwe Sisulu – the former Ministers responsible for Intelligence. They have played a significant role in enhancing ‘the lives and happiness of multitudes’, of providing ‘houses, security and comfort’ and advancing ‘peace and friendship’ amongst the nations and peoples of the world, and of building a South Africa that truly ‘belongs to all’. Honourable Members, I am sure you can agree that we exempt them from Voltaire’s colourful characterisation! I ask you to adopt the budget allocation for the civilian Intelligence Services.

------------------------ // -------------------------

 

 

For more information about the Ministry for Intelligence Services visit our website on www.intelligence.gov.za