Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele has confirmed a law was on the way to do away with the State Security Agency and create a domestic branch and foreign branch.
Before the SSA was created in 2010, there was the National Intelligence Agency and the Secret Service.
In a report of the high-level panel, chaired by former Cabinet minister Sydney Mufamadi, it was recommended that there must be the separation of the SSA into a foreign service and a domestic service.
“The SSA should be separated into a foreign service and a domestic service, but this time, with maximum independence of each, with the minimum of shared services between them if at all,” stated the report.
Gungubele, in a written reply to a Parliamentary question from the chairperson of the joint standing committee on intelligence, Jerome Maake, said they were filling critical posts in SSA.
Recently, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the appointment of former diplomat and deputy minister of energy Thembi Majola as the new spy boss.
The position had been filled on an acting basis for some time until last week when Ramaphosa made the announcement.
“SSA has recently revised its implementation plan in order to effect all recommendations of the High-Level Review Panel. The Ministerial Intelligence Task Team that is tasked to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations has been revived. The processing of the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill will be expedited. The passing of (General Intelligence Laws Bill) into an Act of Parliament will pave a way for de-establishment of the SSA and the creation of the two envisaged services as recommended by the High-Level Review Panel,” said Gungubele.
POLITICAL BUREAU