Yet another humiliating SSA robbery: DA to request urgent briefing by Minister Dlodlo

The Democratic Alliance (DA) will request an urgent portfolio committee meeting with the Minister of State Security, Ayanda Dlodlo and the State Security Agency (SSA)  following reports that the agency – whose Pretoria headquarters are supposedly one of the best-secured entities in the country – had allegedly been robbed once again.

A day after Christmas in 2015 they were robbed of R17 million in foreign currency, as thieves strolled in to the Lyttelton property, opened the safe, and strolled out.  

Now it has been revealed that once again the same headquarters has been robbed – but this time the thieves even stole the CCTV cameras. 

The thieves allegedly simply strolled in, unlocked the multi-million rand safe, and strolled out with sensitive documents and an undisclosed amount of cash.  The security guard was conveniently absent while the safe was robbed.

As such the robbery went undetected until employees arrived for work the next morning, only to find the safe empty.

And these are the people we entrust with the security of our country.

After the R17 million robbery in 2015, the Hawks were reduced to asking the public if they had any information about one of the three criminals, after two – both SSA employees, were arrested.  Further arrests were then made, and eventually six suspects appeared in court – four of whom were from the department.

As was pointed out at the time, there is no access to the building without an access card.

While it was claimed in 2015 that a major vetting shake-up was immediately undertaken, and that additional security facilities and advanced electronic controls were introduced, it seems they, too, have failed.

What is of concern to the DA is not only that the money was stolen, but also sensitive documents.  The implications may be political, to protect and/or blackmail political enemies, or may be criminal – evidence against global syndicates perhaps? 

Will we ever know how much cash was stolen, and what it was used for?

Given the shroud of secrecy around the SSA, despite the bombshell report of the High-Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency stating that there is a disproportionate application of secrecy in the SSA stifling effective accountability and facilitating serious non-compliance with controls including blatant criminality – the South African public may well never know.

Answers needed on Minister Bongo’s security clearance despite active Hawks investigation

The DA notes with concern media reports that newly appointed Minister of State Security, Bongani Bongo, is being investigated by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) for his alleged involvement in fraud and corruption while he served as the head of legal services in the Department of Human Settlements of Mpumalanga in 2012.
We will be submitting parliamentary questions to ascertain if Bongo was properly vetted by the State Security Agency (SSA) prior to being appointed, and how the SSA failed to detect (or ignored) this active investigation.
Bongo’s meteoric rise from ANC backbencher to State Security minister in President Jacob Zuma’s latest cabinet reshuffle on 17 October set off alarm bells. The DA is now even more concerned knowing that our intelligence service is now headed by someone under active investigation by the Hawks.
Jacob Zuma has a history of appointing dubious characters to head the intelligence services, none more so than Bongo’s predecessor, David Mahlobo, and SSA Director-General, Arthur Fraser. The former was exposed as associating with self-confessed criminal and rhino horn smuggler, Guan Jiang Guang, by the Al Jazeera news channel in November 2016. The latter was re-appointed as spy boss despite his involvement in the ‘Principal Agent Network’, a covert project run by the NIA between 2007 and 2010 which was tainted by allegations of misspending and prompted investigations into fraud and corruption by the SSA, the then-Inspector General of Intelligence and others.
If Minister Bongo has indeed obtained this clearance despite the ongoing investigation, it would mean President Zuma has sanctioned an unlawful breach of State Security procedure for the sake of appointing his Minister.
Alternatively, if Minister Bongo has not yet obtained the requisite security clearance for his new position, it must be determined whether he has been given access to classified state information since his appointment in contravention of intelligence laws.
We can no longer allow our intelligence services to be mired in endless controversy.

Inspector General of Intelligence must investigate Chief Justice office robbery

Media reports today, quoting sources close to the investigation of the break-in at the Office of the Chief Justice on 18 March, claim that the leading suspect in the case, Nkosinathi Msimango, has links to the State Security Agency (SSA).
I will be writing to the newly appointed Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI), Dr Setlhomamaru Isaac Dintwe, requesting that his office also investigate the incident and the alleged link with the SSA.
The DA is on record saying that the burglary is highly suspicious, and can only be viewed as an act of intimidation targeting our judiciary.
We are also on record calling on Dintwe to investigate the growing dysfunction in the intelligence services and address suspicions of the intelligence services involving itself in political intrigue.
We believe it is incumbent on the Minister of State Security, David Mahlobo, to address claims of SSA involvement in this outrageous crime and to clarify Msimango relationship with the SSA, if any.
The significance of the break-in at the office of the Chief Justice cannot be downplayed and nothing short of a complete and thorough investigation is required, including an investigation into state involvement.