Chairperson, I am not a member of this committee, so I do have the advantage of looking at the intelligence industry from a distance and from the outside.
It is clear that our intelligence family is not in good shape. Last year I said that when you are dealing with intelligence, it is all about trust and that the abusive state security institutions were a serious challenge to the rule of law and the wellbeing of ordinary South Africans.
What is the state of affairs one year later? If one looks at the media and various media reports over the past weeks, and listen to commentary, it does not augur well for what is coming and for the leadership role we should play in Africa. One cannot ignore what is being said in the media and over the radio. You cannot keep quiet all the time and hope that it will go away.
We have seen, inter alia, that the Mail & Guardian sources are claiming that a series of new appointments and promotions is part of what they call the "Zumafication" of intelligence structures, aimed at ensuring that the President gets his second term in office. The Presidential Protection Unit, they say, is fast becoming a presidential spy unit with all the new recruits coming from the intelligence family. The question to be asked is: Will this presidential spy unit spy on the President's enemies in the run-up to the ANC conference? Only time will tell. But this is nothing new. It happened before.
Minister Tokyo Sexwale was clearly under the spotlight in the past, when he fell out of favour with former President Mbeki. Maybe that hon Minister can tell us whether this deployment of intelligence agents into the presidential bodyguard unit is a result of the fact that the President does not trust the existing intelligence agencies. A sad day, if that is the case. Yesterday it was reported that documents taken in a robbery from hon Tokyo Sexwale's advocate's house was, inter alia, his affidavit, wherein he accused, and I quote, "the crime intelligence boss, Richard Mdluli, of abusing state resources".
There was recently a series of events that needs clarification, otherwise the perception that something is wrong becomes the truth. What were some of these events? One was the dropping of fraud and murder charges against you know who. He was moved yesterday. I want to ask why he was not suspended. The problem is if you try to cut off a dog's tail, you do it once, not bit by bit.
We have seen shocking revelations of secret service slush funds, the tapping of phones without the necessary authority, the restructuring of Crime Intelligence, the untimely letter by Richard Mdluli to the President offering his assistance, the chopping and changing of senior positions in the National Intelligence Agency. All of this coincides with the tabling of the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, which will have the effect of centralising control over the security and intelligence services, exposing them even more to political abuse.
Business Day wrote in their editorial of 23 April, and I quote:
It has become abundantly clear that the executive of government is engaged in the systematic attempt to use state's security and intelligence structures to silence opposition, both within and outside the ruling party.
It does not look healthy. Minister, it is up to you to put the record straight. I have quoted what is in the public domain, over the radio through commentators, in the media, for everyone to read. I am not a part of your committee. I have no WikiLeaks or other information. This was in the public domain.
We should leave the spies out of politics. That is exactly what the Matthews report and the White Paper on Intelligence advocate. The White Paper was published a few years ago, and I quote: No intelligence organisation shall be allowed to carry out any operations or activities that are intended to undermine, promote or influence any South African political party or organisation at the expense of another, by means of any acts or by means of disinformation.
This principle should be part of the new legislation.
It is us, Parliament, who must be the last custodian of protecting and restoring the trust in state security. Let's not falter when we start our job as legislators.
Even the ANC-dominated parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police is concerned about developments. It was once again clear in the debate on Police yesterday - a big division on the other side of this House. Cosatu has called for a judicial commission of inquiry into the allegations of corruption.
So, hon Minister, what are you going to say to the hon President when he asks you about all these negative reports on the intelligence family in the public domain? I hope it is not like the answer of the energetic owner of the hotel in the movie called The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. It is a fairly chaotic destination, but every time guests go to the front desk and complain, he replies, "Don't worry, everything will be all right at the end, and if it is not all right, it is not the end." I thank you. [Time expired.]