Hon Chairperson, hon Ministers that may be present in the House, hon members, members of the intelligence community, the Inspector- General of Intelligence, Ambassador Adv Radebe, and distinguished guests, the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, commonly referred to as the JSCI, in terms of legislation, has an oversight function over all intelligence entities that have been established in our country.
You are aware, as the hon Minister has now reminded you, that this Budget Vote relates, however, to the Ministry of State Security and the recently established State Security Agency, also known as the SSA, not CIA. This intelligence family, for which the hon Minister is responsible, is generally referred to as the civilian intelligence.
We do, nonetheless, have here in our presence today members of other intelligence entities. Firstly, there is defence intelligence, for which the hon Minister of Defence and Military Veterans is responsible. Also, there is crime intelligence, which is a division of the SA Police Service, and falls under the Minister of Police. I mention this, because a practice has developed in this Budget Vote in which speakers have used the opportunity to redress matters that also relate to defence intelligence and crime intelligence, and some of my colleagues will indeed be doing this.
Hon Minister Cwele has spoken well. Having regard for what he said, we are generally in agreement, particularly as he has concentrated on the question of national security of the Republic.
When I spoke during this Budget Vote debate last year, it was on the eve of the Soccer World Cup. I too spent considerable time speaking on matters of national security. At that time, I reminded the House that there were good people who work silently and dutifully out of the public eye, and who play a major role in protecting the people of this country by the nature of the work that they do. I said then that these people never get credit for the work they do. Yet, they are the ones that are at the forefront of producing the products that warn us of threats to our national security. I also said that we need to acknowledge their contribution.
Moreover, I made reference to section 198 of our Constitution, which sets out the principles which govern the national security of the Republic. One of these principles is:
National security must reflect the resolve of South Africans, as individuals and as a nation, to live as equals, to live in peace and harmony, to be free from fear and want and to seek a better life.
If our national security is to reflect the resolve of our people, as provided for by the Constitution, then it is essential that we, as a people, develop a deeper understanding of just what national security is. While this is a matter that impacts on all our people and in particular the masses, today it is the so-called legal experts, academics, political experts and commentators who are the ones that appear to drive the agenda of what really constitutes the national security of the Republic.
Yet, there is no single universally accepted definition of national security. If one were to take a typical dictionary definition, you could be misled. For example, the Farlex Dictionary defines national security as, and I quote: "the requirement to maintain the survival of the nation-state through the use of economic, military, political power and the exercise of diplomacy".
Today, it is generally accepted that the concept of national security remains ambiguous, since it originated from simpler definitions, which initially emphasised freedom from military threats and political coercion.
However, following the Holocaust of the Second World War, in which the estimated death toll was said to be in the vicinity of 55 million people, the international approach and thinking on national security changed. Accordingly, in the area of peace and security, there developed the concept of human security. This has probably been the most fundamental change in thinking on peace and the prevention of conflict.
This revolutionary idea of national security has resulted in a new approach, and more recent definitions have adopted a much broader approach to national security. Therefore, new definitions include elements such as political, economic and environmental security. And so we see a more modern and recent definition, which is freely accessible on the Internet, and I quote:
National security then is the ability to preserve the nation's physical integrity and territory; to maintain its economic relations with the rest of the world on reasonable terms; to preserve its nature, institution, and governance from disruption from outside; and to control its borders.
The point is that what constitutes the national security of a state differs from state to state. It is, therefore, important that we as South Africans give effect to section 198 of our Constitution and develop our own understanding of what we see as matters that affect our national security.
I have raised the matter of national security because there is a misconception amongst many people that national security matters are simply about guns and war. This is not the case. That is the approach that is adopted very often by the experts that we see on television, commentators and other academics.
The ad hoc committee dealing with the Protection of Information Bill has had to look very seriously at the question of national security. It now forms the sole basis on which information can be classified. I therefore urge the public and hon members to consider what the matters really are that affect our national security, as this could help in broadening your understanding of what the Bill is, in fact, trying to do.
One cannot end a debate on national security without having regard for the co-ordination of the work that is done by intelligence entities. Thus, it is essential for the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee, commonly known as Nicoc, to function effectively. It is an area that we as the JSCI have noted needs considerable attention, hon Minister. Nicoc is an institution that is created by a constitution. In the past, Nicoc was responsible for producing wonderful work. We trust that the new Nicoc principles will attend urgently to bringing Nicoc back to its full operational potential, as a dysfunctional Nicoc is clearly going to affect our national security.
In conclusion, hon Chairperson ... I still have three minutes, hon members. [Interjections.] It appears that some of the hon members have no respect for what really constitutes our national security, and yet we have continual complaints from people about what is being done. You think only of crime; you think only of guns, and yet the threats that are facing our country, that are facing our national security, are much, much broader. It is a narrow-minded person that is going to reduce national security to the level that some of the commentators and some of the hon members that are here - whispering here in the background - are thinking.
Hon Chairperson, we have heard the Minister, we are in agreement with his speech and we are in agreement with his budget, and we support the Budget Vote. Thank you. [Applause.]