Hon Chairperson, hon Minister, hon Members of Parliament, our guests and friends, in this centenary year of the true guardian of our people we, again, call on all to work together with the ANC- led government to build a safer nation in a secure world. We continue to create effective, integrated and responsive intelligence machinery that can serve the Constitution and the government through the timeous provision of relevant, credible and reliable intelligence.
I would like to remind the hon members that, prior to the election of the democratic government, security policy was formulated by a minority government. Its ability to detail what was national interest was, therefore, flawed. Moreover, since the minority government was faced with a struggle for liberation, this issue dominated the question of security and, consequently, the activities of the statutory instruments that served it. The apartheid regime has emphasised military threats and the need for counteraction. Emphasis was placed, in the main, on the ability of the state to secure its physical survival, territorial integrity and independence, as well as its ability to maintain law and order within its boundaries. As a consequence, the classic function of intelligence was the identification of military, paramilitary threats or potential threats endangering these core interests, as well as the evaluation of enemy intentions and capabilities.
Our commitment to a constitutional democracy and the changing objective conditions enjoin us to follow a more comprehensive approach to which security is also endorsed by organisations like the UN and the AU. This approach is reflected in, among others, the Kampala Document of the OAU of 19 May 1991, wherein a process known as the Conference on Security, Stability, Development and Co-operation in Africa was set in motion.
The international security agenda has shifted to the full range of political, economic, military, social, religious, technological, ethnic and ethical factors that shape security issues around the world. But the main threat to the wellbeing of individuals and the interest of nations across the world do not primarily come from a neighbouring army, but from other internal and external challenges, such as economic collapse, overpopulation, mass migration, ethnic rivalry, political oppression, torture, terrorism, crime, disease, and so on. Hence security is defined less in military terms and more in the broader sense of freedom from the vulnerability of modern society.
Section 4 of the National Strategic Intelligence Act, Act 39 of 1994, establishes the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee, Nicoc, to consist of the co-ordinator for intelligence, the director-general of the agency, the director-general of the service, the chief of the intelligence division of the National Defence Force, and the head of the intelligence division of the SA Police Service. This, in our view, is an important component which should not be undermined.
According to Subsection 4(2) of the Act the functions of the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee include, inter alia, co-ordination of intelligence supplied by the members of the national intelligence structures, and interpretation of such intelligence for the use of the state and the Cabinet for purposes of the detection and identification of any threat or potential threat to the national security of the Republic and the protection and promotion of the national interests of the Republic.
Co-ordination of intelligence in our view is extremely critical to protect national interests and secure our transformation agenda. In this regard, let me take a leaf from the book of the President at the 2009 Intelligence Service Day, when he said:
To realise progress on the five priorities, we need the state security services to develop a sustainable and measurable strategy to protect and support the government programmes from disruption and ensure an enduring security. The vehicle towards this is a national security strategy, which must define clear roles for each of the security agencies in pursuing these priorities. The national security strategy must emphasise co- operation and integration of systems amongst the departments and components of government in the fight against crime and corruption.
I think it would be remiss of our hon members not to ask the vexed question: Why so much unrest in our communities? Why is it that our government is disrupted from realising the priorities which the President alluded to? Why is it that corruption and other crimes of greed and avarice threaten to erode our democratic gains and foment social dissent and unrest within our people?
It is quite amazing to note that the nub of this issue was what concerned the President in 2009 when he continued:
One issue that must be prioritised is to look into the violence that has accompanied protests in communities. The right to peaceful and democratic protest is recognised by the Constitution and must be defended by our security agencies and all of us. However, what worries us is the element of violence and destruction of property. We need to know why our people would choose to be violent instead of pursuing the rightful demands in a peaceful manner.
Thank you. [Time expired.] [Applause.]