Hon Deputy Chair, let me appreciate the opportunity, I am hereby presenting the Report of the Joint Standing Committee of Intelligence for the Financial Year 27 April-18 March 2018. It is safe to say and highlight that the Report is only submitted now because the activities of the committee were affected by the departure of the Chairperson and the committee resolve and recommend that the rules must apply where the acting Chairperson should be appointed and in the long term there must be a space for the Deputy Chairperson of the Committee to come in.
The committee had different activities in this financial year under review. We interacted with all organs of our intelligence community, Inspector General, IG, the Financial Sector Intelligence Centre Judge Mmusi for interception. We interacted again on the IG, the
kernel of the issue was the submission of the certificates issued by him regarding the assessment of the intelligence community.
We also discussed in this activities on the basis of the certificate, the so called principal agent network and the committee recommends that this matter was not fully investigated and no prosecutions were instituted by the National Prosecuting Authority, NPA and we persuaded the President to re-open the matter, investigate and the prosecution must be made and those who are found to have been involved they must face the extend of the law.
We also recommended the reconstruction of the intelligence services that a panel must appointed by the President and the panel has been appointed and with the recommendations of the Report but we have not yet reached that stage of adopting the Report of the Panel.
On the legislation, this committee instituted a small group of a sub committee to look on the gaps and the loop holes that governs the workings of the intelligence and our security organs. We found different loopholes that needs to be closed moving forward to the 6th Parliament. We met visitors from the Republic of Italy, we had visitors from the Parliament of Nigeria, the committee that works on
the security matters and the intelligence. The committee visited Sweden and Netherlands.
We want to recommend that a number of this need to be given attention in particular and the relations between the office of the IG and the intelligence community. The issues that relates to cyber crime, the issues that relates to the calibre of people who are deployed to the intelligence organs and there must and overarching assessment to the technologies that we need to advance and secure our country. We want to recommend that the Presiding Officers, if required to ponder the process of appointment of the member of the committee as acting Chairpersons in the absence of the Chairperson. We therefore submit the Report for consideration.
Debate concluded.
Question put: That the Report be adopted.
In Favour: Eastern Cape, Free State, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, North West, Western Cape.
Report accordingly adopted in accordance of section 65 of the Constitution.
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