Address by Ronnie Kasrils

May I share a West African legend with you, which I believe captures the essence of today’s gathering – that of service.

According to folklore[1], in the town of Sedo lived a proud king, whose armies were very powerful.

The king basked in his own glory until one day a praise singer was called to pay tribute to him. He sang ‘the soldiers are great among soldiers, as they serve the clan; the hunters are great among hunters, as they serve the village; the praise singers are great among praise singers, as they sing for the king and his slaves’.

The king asked ‘what is the meaning of this song?’ and the praise singer replied ‘its message is that all people serve, whatever their station’. This was completely foreign to the king who declared ‘not all people serve; as the King of Sedo I do not serve, rather others serve me.’

At that moment a wandering holy man in rags passed by and asked for food. The king instinctively fed the holy man from his bowl, as he was keen to continue with the discussion.

The praise singer then said; ‘you have said that you serve no-one, yet you have given a holy man food from your plate’. Then the praise singer added ‘how can you say that the king does not serve as the head and body must serve each other’. Then he sang ‘the king is great among kings, as the king serves his people’.

It is this notion of collective service in support of our nation’s security and prosperity, which we celebrate today. And it is this notion of service, which strikes at the very heart of our profession. Much like the soldier, hunter, praise singer and, of course, the king, our profession’s greatness derives from the very service that we are called upon to provide. Bear in mind that the word “Minister” is synonymous with “service”!

It is said that spies are as old as secrets. The Bible is one of the first documented texts, which highlights this role, with God occupying the position of chief spymaster! The Lord said to Moses, ‘choose one of the leaders from each of the twelve tribes and send them off as spies to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.’ Moses sent them out to ‘…find out what kind of country it is, how many people live there, and how strong they are. Find out whether the land is good or bad and whether the people live in open towns or fortified cities…[2]’

Our history is replete with examples of the role played by dedicated members of our profession. This role is not only confined to their involvement in the struggle for our country’s national liberation and democracy, which many of us are aware of, but in fact evolved much earlier in the wars of resistance against foreign conquest.

King Shaka made use of izinhloli – spies - as reflected in his specialised unit, the Khangela amaNkengane - the lookouts - to monitor the movements of the British in Durban bay. Similarly, the Xhosa Kings also made extensive use of spies – iintlola - during what are known as the Frontier Wars. In fact the moment strangers crossed into the territory of any of the African kingdoms of those times the chief or the monarch would be informed by ever vigilant people – whether spies or villagers.

The Xhosa, known for their pioneering role in the development of guerilla warfare, used spies extensively. Their methods were recorded by a British Officer, who wrote: ‘Whenever our patrols appeared, smoke signals were made on the most commanding points, which enabled them, with the knowledge they had of different paths intersecting the forests…, to meet at any particular point’[3] The iintlola were innovators of what is known today as SIGINT.

The Boer commandos too are well-known for their use of spies during the early years of warfare against the British. Their unique contribution lies in their creation of the first ever formalised secret service institution in South Africa. The President of the Transvaal Republic, Paul Kruger, appointed Dr Leyds to head a special department concerned with intelligence.

An indication of the effectiveness of this new Secret Service was the Boers anticipation of the impending Jameson Raid, which sought to overthrow Kruger’s Government, so as to place the newly discovered mineral wealth into the hands of the British.

As a result, when President Kruger was advised of Jameson’s plans by the Secret Service, he confidently declared – ‘ek sal wag tot die skilpad sy kop uitsteek, en dit dan afkap’[4] - I shall wait until the tortoise puts out his head, then I shall cut it off. And cut it off he did; Jameson and his raiders were defeated and captured by the well-prepared Boers, who had the advantaged of fore-knowledge.

This history is instructive in highlighting that the fundamentals of our trade – from the requirement and planning stage, to target identification, collection, analysis, evaluation, dissemination and finally decision making - what we know as the intelligence cycle – remain essentially the same.

Similarly, this history illustrates that the origin of and necessity for intelligence as a profession are not new. The universal need for intelligence in support of a nation’s security, through the supply of information with respect to what was brewing within and beyond one’s mountains and shores, remains as relevant today. As intelligence officers, our role is therefore not alien to human nature, but is rather a vocation, by virtue of the essential service that we provide in both ensuring and securing effective governance and national security.

This profession endures, despite its failures, as exemplified recently in some countries across the seas. It endures, despite our own painful past where intelligence was used as a repressive tool in the service of a privileged minority.

We are reminded that the intelligence community must always operate within the framework of the law and must protect, not only the interests of the Government it serves, but also those of the people that the Government represents. Our history reminds us that secrecy, the very basis of our profession, must not be used as a cloak to hide abuses or to manipulate the power we are entrusted with. We must always remember that our profession is noble precisely because we operate in the name of our people and therefore are accountable to them.

Indeed, because of the complex environment in which we operate and the enormous responsibility accorded to us, our profession requires the service of those with a strong moral compass, who prize integrity at all costs. In this regard, Sun Tzu - the great military sage - writing more than 2500 years ago, reminds us that in recruiting members ‘…the first essential is to estimate the character of the spy to determine if he is sincere, truthful and really intelligent …afterwards, he can be employed…’[5]

So while history teaches us that the need for intelligence persists - what has changed, just as technology develops, is the new context in which the intelligence community operates. This context is one where the security threats that we confront today are very different from those of the old. These threats pose new challenges to the intelligence community, for which a new and creative approach is required.

President Mbeki referred to this in his State of the Nation Address, when he committed the Government to improving the capacity of the Intelligence Services over the next five years. Our ten priorities for immediate action, as enunciated in my June budget speech, flow directly from the President’s injunction and build on the extensive work that has already been accomplished over the last ten years. They speak directly to the focus of our national security agenda as well as the manner in which we carry out our tasks.

I can confidently claim that we have much to be proud of and wish to pay tribute to the late Dullah Omar, who as Minister of Justice had initial responsibility for the services, and Ministers Joe Nhlanhla and Lindiwe Sisulu for steering the Services through our formative years. Our Intelligence Services are responding to the President’s call to improve our capacity and have embraced the priorities identified as part and parcel of our business plans for the coming period.

This is borne out by my visits to all our provincial offices and SANAI. It is reflected in the briefings which were held with the different directorates of the Services and in my interactions with role-players both nationally and internationally. It emerges from the extensive consultation and four day review, which was recently held with the Heads of the Services and the Spending Centres.

I am pleased to report that the ten priorities have been incorporated into the performance contracts of Top Management. These have been signed and will cascade down to affect the commitment and output of each and every one of us.

While our achievements in respect of meeting the priorities are many, time pressures, unfortunately, restrict me to sharing only some highlights with you:

In respect of co-ordination at home - which is critical to ensuring that we make maximum impact and use the resources at our disposal effectively - much has already been done to foster this spirit so as to strengthen our working relationships, both within and across the intelligence community.

The recent successful presentation of the National Intelligence Estimate to Cabinet, serves as a concrete example of the importance of co-ordination at a strategic level. Plans are afoot to strengthen this, particularly at operational levels, through the finalisation of the regulations concerned with the co-ordination of counter-intelligence. Consultation at Ministerial and security cluster level, to explore ways to deepen synergy on intelligence sharing and co-ordination between all Services, is well-underway. In this regard, intensive discussion on improved co-ordination on border security and control has already taken place within the security cluster and we are currently conducting important studies on security at our ports of entry.

Significant strides have also been made in respect of building partnerships with our friends and neighbours, which has enabled us to pool our efforts so as to deal with global threats, such as international terrorism and organised crime, on a truly co-operative basis.

Much of our focus has been directed to building partnerships in Africa, given that our country’s national security is inseparably linked to that of the economic regeneration of our Continent.

Through bodies like the African Union, we have prioritised strengthening Africa’s capacity to ensure security and stability and are actively participating in the establishment of an Early Warning Centre to predict possible conflict at both regional and Continental levels. We have also participated in the recent establishment of the Community of Intelligence Services and Security in Africa (CISSA), which is an important milestone in the development of African co-operation. Further, we will continue to play a meaningful role in post-conflict reconstruction processes in countries recovering from war.

While much has been achieved in respect of building international partnerships, we need to continue to strengthen this area, particularly in respect of the manner in which we deal with requests from Foreign Intelligence Services, which will reflect the way we are professionally judged internationally.

The best guarantee of responsible, cost-effective and successful operations is the quality of our members to whom we entrust these vital functions. In this regard, plans are being developed so as to ensure that our personnel receive the best possible training and skills development. And may I emphasise that our government and people expect the highest standards of professional conduct and service from everyone of us, bar-none. Let us constantly prove to them and the world that we abide by the highest standards.

SANAI is expected to play a key role in this process. It will refocus its energies towards the provision of training in core areas. SANAI is also expected to build on the success of the cadet programme; provide forums for peer group training and exchanges in the different areas of work; as well as extend its training programmes to intelligence officers from African states.

Important initiatives are being taken at provincial level so as to improve our capacity in collection and analysis on the domestic front. This includes reaching out through the development of a wider network of agents as well as in ensuring that our agent-handlers receive more assistance.

On the important matter of making optimal use of our resources, I know that many of you feel, particularly with Christmas around the corner, that your Directors-General and I are much like the infamous Charles Dickens character known as Scrooge! However, I also know the frustrations you experience when there are not sufficient resources to meet many of your urgent operational requirements.

As responsible intelligence officers, I am sure that you will all agree that in a country like ours, where we urgently need better housing, health, education, the delivery of safe water and electricity, we must ensure the maximum value of our money through well-run Services.

This is important because our country’s continued stability and prosperity – which is ultimately our primary concern - rests on the extent to which our Government can meet the developmental needs of our people. Although our budget allocation has more than doubled over the last four years - a reflection of Government’s high regard for our work - the sustainability of our Services is dependent on the manner in which we make good use of the resources at our disposal. As our former Minister, Joe Nhlanhla, used to say ‘we need to do more with less’.

Of particular concern is the fact that our costs for personnel remuneration have been rising more rapidly than the increase in the budget. Our high salary bill has, in turn, impacted negatively on what remains for operational and capital equipment. This is clearly untenable and we therefore have no choice but to ensure that adjustments are made in favour of direct operational activity – which is our core business and which is ultimately what we are about – as well as in ensuring that our capital equipment and facilities are systematically renewed.

It is in this context that we have been hard at work to explore ways in which we can achieve a re-alignment of expenditure ratios on personnel, operational and capital expenditure. For my part, I have cut the Ministry’s budget by 50%. Our efforts aimed at the discontinuance of secondary projects as well as those concerned with the disposal of redundant assets are already yielding dividends. We are in the process of advancing our discussions with respect to the shared services dispensation so as to ensure that that we achieve economies of scale. Furthermore, we are reviewing our human resources strategy so as to ensure targeted recruitment and strategic placement of members.

While we may not always be happy with the sometimes tough decisions that need to be taken; we need to constantly remind ourselves that they are necessary to secure the future effectiveness of our Services.

And so, given the significant advances we have made; we certainly have cause to celebrate. All these efforts, in conjunction with the foundation laid over the past ten years, place us in a strong position to respond to the new challenges confronting us.

Breakthroughs in dealing with the threats of terrorism from Pagad, the Boeremag and al-Qaeda, to the recent arrests concerning the proliferation of mass destructive technologies and disruption of mercenary threats at home and abroad, highlight the diligent work of our Services.

While the awards we hand out on this Intelligence Services Day underscore the unique contribution of individuals, ultimately they belong to all of you. Your dedicated service and professionalism in support of our nation has brought us to where we are today. As I mentioned at the beginning of my address – we all serve, irrespective of our location or responsibility in the intelligence community.

And while much has been achieved in respect of our delivery of this service, so much more remains to be done. As Nigerian poet Ben Okri reminds us:

Given our successes, I have no doubt that everyone of you can be counted on to continue on the long and sometimes difficult journey, which we are required to take, so as to move ever forwards – we have no choice as our country and future generations expect and deserve no less!

Cabinet, at its meeting yesterday, presided over by President Mbeki endorsed the following decisions:

1. The extension of the contract of Director-General: SASS, Mr. Hilton Dennis for a further three years commencing as of 1^st December 2004.

2. Before announcing the second decision which relates to the post of Director-General: NIA, I need to inform you that DG: NIA, Mr. Vusi Mavimbela, had requested the President, prior to the April national elections to release him from service to pursue another career. Mr. Mavimbela had graciously agreed to serve under me until the end of this year for which I am exceedingly grateful. Accordingly his post will need to be filled as from the 1^st January 2005. With the President’s concurrence it has been decided that as of that date the post Director-General: NIA will be taken up by Mr. Billy Lesedi Masetlha for a period of three years.

For those who may not be aware of Mr. Masetlha’s distinguished career he played a leading role in the transition period, the amalgamation of the Services, was the previous Director-General: SASS, Director-General: Home Affairs and presently is Special Advisor in the Presidency.

May I ask you all to join me in expressing firstly our heart-felt appreciation to Mr. Vusi Mavimbela for the outstanding contribution he has rendered to our intelligence community and country and we wish him great success in his future responsibilities which relate to the progress and prosperity of our country. There is no need for us to remind him of our motto: Än intelligence officer for life”. Dear Vusi, this is not the end of the road, for the new dreams you hold bind us together as we continue to build with you, the new South Africa. Like the soldiers, hunters, praise singers and even kings of the folklore tale with which I commenced my speech, I know you will continue to serve our country in whatever capacity.

In conclusion may I ask you all to join me in extending our congratulations to Director-General: SASS on the extension of his contract, and to Billy Masetlha on his appointment as of the New Year as Director-General: NIA.

[1] Courlander, H, A Treasury of African Folklore, Marlowe & Company, New York, 1996

[2] The Bible, Numbers 13, The Spies

[3] Cited in Peires J, The House of Phalo, Chapter 9, Jonathan Ball Publishers, Jeppestown, 2003

[4] Cited in Pakenham T, The Boer War, Jonathan Ball Publishers, Jeppestown,1997

[5] Cited in Owen D, Hidden Secrets, Chapter 1, Firefly Books, Canada, 2002