Chairperson, Ministers, hon members, distinguished guests, intelligence veterans, ladies and gentlemen, fellow South Africans, it is a great privilege for me to stand before the House today to present the contribution of the intelligence services to government's programme of working together to do more to build a better life for all, as encapsulated in the President's state of the nation address. As it is said, forewarned is forearmed. Therefore, our ability to attain the better life we seek, the basis of which reflects our resolve to live as equals in peace and harmony, free from want and fear, is in no small measure dependent on whether our decision-makers are provided with the requisite foreknowledge to enable them to discharge their obligations to our people without any major disruptions.
It is the provision of this foreknowledge that lies at the heart of the mandate of our intelligence services, which is partly demonstrated by our name change to the Ministry of State Security, which better reflects what we do. There can be no development without security; there cannot be security without development; and there can be neither without a strong developmental state to deliver these twin imperatives.
As such, our intelligence services must be at the very centre of identifying threats to our constitutional order and ensuring the successful implementation of government's programme. Accordingly, our priorities over the next five years will be directed at a range of initiatives that are intended to strengthen our ability to meet the task at hand. By so doing, we shall be building on the solid foundation laid by the late Ministers Dullah Omar and Joe Nhlanhla, which was given further expression by our former Ministers Lindiwe Sisulu and Ronnie Kasrils.
The need for intelligence to be at the centre of government can be traced back to clans, kingdoms and nations since the dawn of time. This is illustrated in the writings of ancient commentators, such as those of the 11th century, for example, Nizam al-Mulk.
In detailing the rules governing statecraft, he maintains that -
It is indispensable for a sovereign to obtain information on all which happens. Sending out spies shows that the state will flourish. These spies must bring back reports so that no matters remain concealed. In the past, if any army was preparing to attack, the spies informed the king and he repelled them. Spying is delicate business. It must be entrusted to the tongues of those without self-interest, for the weals and woes of the country depend on them. When they can be relied upon, there is no need for anxiety.
The leaders of our African kingdoms also relied upon those "without self- interest" to defend their territory against forces that sought to steal their land, plunder their resources and enslave their people. Given that this year marks the 130th anniversary of the Battle of Isandlwana, let us therefore pay tribute to the inzinhloli of Inkosi uCetshwayo, whose reports on the movements of the British were decisive in securing this historic victory.
Cetshwayo passed the baton on to those who followed, as evidenced by Inkosi uBhambatha's renowned Chakijana, who lived up to his namesake, the crafty mongoose, which was famous for its smartness, being on the alert and always ready to bite first. Chakijana used his much sought-after skills gained in the South African War to serve as Bhambatha's most formidable lieutenant in the Impi Yamakhanda.
Just as our intelligence services are at the centre of giving expression to our people's long-held aspirations of a united, democratic, nonracial and nonsexist South Africa that belongs to all who live in it, black and white, we have to and must be at the centre of ensuring our continued peace, security and comfort.
This is particularly necessary given the threats we face today. These threats originate from both the domestic and foreign arena; they stem from state and nonstate actors; and they are interconnected, wide-ranging and know no borders.
These threats encompass poverty, underdevelopment, environmental degradation, food insecurity and increased competition for scarce natural resources, pandemics and diseases and human and natural disasters. They include intra- and interstate conflicts; terrorism; nuclear, chemical and biological weapons proliferation; espionage; subversion; sabotage; transnational syndicated crime and corruption; smuggling and human trafficking; and critical infrastructure and systems failure.
These threats, if realised, pose a danger to the survival of our constitutional order; the integrity of our state; the growth of our economy; and the well-being and livelihoods of our people. Most of all, they have the potential to derail our government's programme of action informed by the 10 priority areas identified by President Zuma in his state of the nation address.
We therefore cannot tire in our efforts to provide security to our people. Now, more than ever, we need to give early warning of these threats. We need to be able to predict and understand them, identify their source and precise nature, the likelihood of their occurrence, the forms they may take and their potential impact. We need to put in place comprehensive contingency measures to prevent and combat them, and where this is not possible, to ensure that we are in a position to mitigate and manage their consequences. In this way, South Africa will be ever ready not only to deal with the expected, but also be sufficiently prepared to tackle the unexpected.
Over the years our intelligence services have covered much ground towards this goal. The stability that we enjoy as a country, despite the dangerous world that we inhabit, is clear testimony to this. Whilst most of the details of what we do must of necessity remain outside of the public domain, we have made a number of significant breakthroughs, ensuring that our people rest easier, safe in the knowledge that our democracy is protected. We need only mention the recent, successful elections to demonstrate this.
These achievements, however, do not belong to our intelligence community alone. They have been secured in co-operation with our partners across government, in the private sector, civil society and the international arena. In moving forward, we therefore intend to take to heart the President's call to action for continuity and collective responsibility, and we will indeed work together to build a secure and safer nation.
Whilst there is no major or immediate threat to our country, there are some areas of risk and vulnerability that we will focus on, which constitute our key priorities over the coming period. Our approach to national security since 1994 has largely been determined by the requirements associated with our democratic transition. However, South Africa and the world have since changed. We therefore need to re-evaluate our strategic interests and what might threaten them. As part of this process, we need to ensure that we are better organised and have the requisite capacity to respond with speed and precision to major threats.
In the next five years, we will prioritise the finalisation of the National Security Strategy to guide our common approach to upholding national security. This will also spell out a management system that will ensure that all the capabilities of the government and the nation are effectively harnessed and co-ordinated to better deal with the threats confronting us.
The forging of identity and other official documents, the penetration of our information communications technology systems to perpetrate fraud, the break-ins in a number of our strategic entities, the selected and distorted leakage of state information to destabilise and sow divisions, all impact negatively on the state's ability to function and to deliver much-needed services to our people.
We must ensure that all sensitive state information is properly managed, controlled and protected from theft, manipulation, cyber attack and unauthorised disclosure, be it by corrupt officials, criminal syndicates, foreign adversaries or information peddlers.
We will devote more resources to securing the integrity of the state's information, its processes, its employees and its critical infrastructure. We will resubmit the draft Protection of Information Bill to Parliament. This will guide the process of classification and declassification of state information and criminalise the activities of those engaged in espionage and information peddling.
We will continue to ensure the full implementation of all elements of our vetting strategy, which contributes to enabling government to expose and root out criminals from the Public Service. In particular, we will ensure that all those seeking employment are subject to appropriate screening prior to entry. We will expand our vetting field units in prioritised state institutions to broaden our reach.
We have embarked upon a project to develop an early warning system to monitor and identify risks in our critical national infrastructure, which is essential to the well-being of the nation. Whilst much attention is being given to large-scale state enterprises, this project will eventually be extended to all critical national infrastructure, whether in state or private hands.
Deficiencies in the control and security of our borders have been identified as a challenge for some time now. These emanate mainly from the lack of integration by departments at our ports of entry. They are facilitated by corrupt officials and they are exploited by transnational crime syndicates and people-smuggling syndicates.
Notwithstanding the improvements made by interdepartmental initiatives led by the Border Control Co-ordination Committee, our efforts still lack sufficient synergy. We must be in a position to maintain our territorial integrity, expedite the legitimate movement of people and goods, whilst deterring and identifying illegal or hostile cross-border movement.
The government security cluster has charged us with the responsibility of co-ordinating the process towards the development of a framework for the establishment of the new border management agency announced by the President, which must be completed by the end of 2009.
Crime remains a source of concern, despite the important advances that have been made. It destroys lives, property and infrastructure. It affects us all, more especially the poor and the most vulnerable. While the police are leading the charge, we must contribute towards tracking the phenomenon behind organised crime and terrorism. Working together, we will ensure that syndicates have no place to hide.
Our country has become a preferred host of major events, be they regional, continental or global. Over the past three years, we have been at the forefront of securing more than 300 special events. Recent successes include the Indian Premier League, the April national elections and the Fifa Confederations Cup.
The expertise we have developed is not only relied upon at home, but also sought after in countries the world over. As such, we will continue to make our country a safe and attractive venue of choice. In particular, our focus will be on assisting our nation in its quest to successfully host the 2010 Fifa World Cup. We will continue to interact with our foreign counterparts in an effort to provide maximum security to this mammoth event.
South Africa's national security is inextricably linked to peace and stability in our region, on our continent and in the world. We note with pride the advances we have made through the ongoing role that we play in bolstering government's facilitation, conflict resolution, peace-making and postconflict initiatives.
Our achievements in this regard bring to the fore the importance of co- operating with foreign intelligence services. We must continue to build on these because, as the visionary Kwame Nkrumah reminds us, and I quote:
Independence means interdependence, for such is the technological and scientific advance in this age the world appears to be smaller than its size. What happens in one country may have repercussions - both favourable and otherwise - in another country.
In this regard, we will strengthen our partnership with the intelligence and security services of SADC and operationalise the regional early warning system in order to enhance our capacity to predict threats to our region. We will continue to support the Committee of Intelligence and Security Services of Africa, Cissa, in its efforts to provide intelligence that will enable the African Union to compete and protect our collective interests. In the next five years, we'll focus on improving the quality of intelligence products by increasing our capacity and building a professional civilian intelligence service. In doing so, we will prioritise the development of our human resources, which constitute our most valued asset. We will open up our recruitment processes and inject new blood into our workforce. We will tap into the best of South Africa's brains, ensuring that their expertise is used to reinforce our knowledge base in strategic fields.
We will intensify our efforts to create a work environment that prizes excellence, where both our serving members and new recruits are encouraged to flourish. We will emphasise a standardised and integrated approach to training, ensuring that our programmes provide added value.
We will evaluate our regulations on conditions of service, ensuring that the consultation mechanism between management and staff is strengthened so that more equitable and sound employment relations are promoted. We will also invest in cutting-edge research and development, so that our officers have the right instruments to remain a step ahead of our adversaries. And we will unfailingly ensure that the power and public funds entrusted to us are used responsibly.
We will resubmit the draft Intelligence Amendment Bill to Parliament to address any gaps, which will place us on an even stronger legislative footing. We will strengthen our co-operation with the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, the Inspector-General for Intelligence Services, the Auditor-General and the designated judge responsible for interception directions, who collectively operate on behalf of our people to ensure our accountability, legality and ethical conduct.
Our mission to ensure that we provide value for money may, however, prove impossible with the current way we are structured. There is a proliferation of structures and this not only makes co-ordination a constant challenge, but also contributes to a lack of sufficient focus. We will therefore embark on a review process with the aim of developing an effective and efficient intelligence architecture, which will be undertaken without any disruptions.
Our programme, as encapsulated in the priorities we have identified, represents our intention to build on what has already been achieved. I would therefore like to thank those who not only brought us this far, but will ensure that we continue to work together to do more to secure South Africa.
I express my gratitude to the departmental heads: Mr Manala Manzini from NIA; Tim Dennis from the SA Secret Service; Silumko Sokupa from Nicoc, the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee; Mike Sarjoo from Sanai, the SA National Academy for Intelligence; Miriam Sekati from the Intelligence Services Council; Loyiso Jafta from NCC, the National Communications Centre; Brian Koopedi from the Office for Interception Centres, OIC; Joe Kotane from Electronic Communications Security (Pty) Ltd, Comsec, and all their management teams and hard-working members.
I acknowledge the chairperson and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, led by Mr Cecil Burgess; the Inspector-General, Mr Zolile Ngcakani; the Auditor-General, Mr Terence Nombembe; Judge Swart; and the chair of our staff council, Xolile Mashukuca. Thanks also to the head of my Ministry, Khaukanani Mavhungu and his staff, who provide me with the support I require.
In closing, I leave you with the wise words of Joe Nhlanhla - to whom I dedicate my speech. This underscores what we intend doing:
Now more than ever, we must demand more from ourselves and build with pride a culture within the intelligence services that holds high the goals of incorruptibility, credibility, integrity and maximum effectiveness. We must accept nothing less.
Much like Chakijana of centuries past, whose determined spirit continues to shape our advances, we will not fail as our President, our government, our people and future generations are owed no less.
Chairperson, I request that the House adopts the Vote on civilian intelligence services.