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Madam Deputy Speaker,
Mr. Deputy President,
Members of Parliament.

Since my appointment as Minister for Intelligence Services on the 26 January this year, I have been grappling with what for me, is an all-consuming issue of what direction the Services should take to enable them to deal adequately with the challenges they face. As we enter the 21st century, we find ourselves on the verge of a revolution; a revolution of ideas about us and the way that we would like the world to perceive and relate to us and at the same time a revolution in the application of new technologies which have radically transformed the tools of our trade and heightened the complexities of our activities.

For us in the Intelligence Services, this revolution coincides with a natural hiatus where, at all levels, we have a new management at the helm that has brought new ideas to the Services.

It is against this backdrop, Madam Deputy Speaker, that we intend launching the Services to what we envisage, could be new heights

The past six years were utilised by my predecessor, the former Minister for Intelligence Services, to carve out a new dispensation for intelligence that has a mandate determined by the constitution; a dispensation that united the myriad of services into one; a dispensation that respected human rights and a dispensation that was very distinct from the old Intelligence Services. Within the brief period that I have been Minister, I have had the opportunity of assessing the work done by the Ministry over the last six years and I am satisfied that Mr. Nhlanhla met the objectives he set for himself. Despite all the adverse publicity and an exceedingly difficult portfolio - I believe he had acquitted himself well. We now, however, have to move forward from this premise that was necessary for the establishment of this order to one that strives for new ideals! We necessarily have to chart uncharted waters to make our new ideals possible.

Towards this end, we have broadened our understanding of intelligence and its scope in the new era. We have also identified key strategic goals of intelligence away from the traditional spy of yesteryear. Within this environ we therefore have determined that our primary role is that of preserving the integrity of the state. Our primary responsibility is to advise government when choices have to be made. This would require prior knowledge of the prevailing setting and to underpin the work of law enforcement agencies by providing them with the kind of information that should give them a head start in the fight against all those who seek to undermine the constitutional order of this country. As a result, our work now encompasses all that which provides national security.

To meet these goals, our Services would have to raise themselves to a level where they can give advice to the kind of leadership we have. They must provide, Madam Deputy Speaker, the kind of service that a President who, as you all know, surfs the Internet until late at night would feel secure and confident with. If the President spends six hours on the Internet, they will have to spend twice as much so that they are ahead of him. If we do not presently have this intellectual capacity, we will go out to get it, and if there is anyone here who feels they can match the standard, we are willing to recruit.

I expect of our Services the kind of commitment, dedication and culture that defines them a cut above the normal employee of government. I want around me the kind of persons in the Services, who would allow Honourable Members to identify them from their personal behaviour. The very best of our patriots. They will recognise the fight against crime as their calling. They will see the protection of the state as their ultimate duty. In the pursuit of knowledge, they will be relentless and in their professionalism, I would like them to excel. I would like them to have the kind of diligence that will ensure that when called upon to assist in the investigation of corruption in government we do so with the utmost confidence and credibility.

We need to avoid situations where we inherit allegations of corruption from the media. The public must have the confidence to come to us with information relating to corruption and we would then share our successes with the media instead of the other way round.

Furthermore, in the context of a globalising world, Madam Deputy Speaker, where the acquisition of appropriate technology guarantees superiority, Intelligence Services all over the world are required to be highly sophisticated and innovative. Gone are the days when intelligence officers hid behind dark glasses and heavy coats and followed their targets up the street, down a dark alley, into the pub and out of the back-stairway. Intelligence now is about the sophistication of the technology we employ to execute our work. If in the past part of our major investment was in repairing the soles of the shoes of surveillance officers - our major investment now will be in technology.

Unfortunately, Madam Deputy Speaker, over time we had allowed ourselves to fall behind in the development of the human capacity and the scientific advances necessary to protect our information environment against being manipulated, and in the development of a capacity necessary for us to manipulate that environment. This, in my view, has posed for us a serious national security threat. The breakneck speed with which technology changes has also compounded our problems. I am therefore convinced that the only way we can render ourselves indispensable within the modern context is to get above information technology. We have identified that we would need a massive injection of resources in order to both make up for our backlog and to develop our technological capacity. In other words, this will be the point of the recapitalisation of the resources of our Services.

It is in this light that we will be embarking on a brave initiative to drastically restructure the Intelligence Academy. I have resolved to close the Intelligence Academy to allow it to completely refocus and to restructure itself so that it can serve the needs of our present time. With its new shape, we will be entering into smart partnerships with a number of academic and technological institutions. This is the point from which we will re-launch ourselves. That is why we have to ensure that it is appropriately restructured. I have this dream, Madam Deputy Speaker, that in time the quality of research to come out of the Academy will serve as a library for Parliament.

The field of intelligence is continuously evolving and expanding. Within the Services, we therefore, expect a continuous process of vigorous re-assessment, which at times would be aimed at re-invigorating the Services. Our recent assessment in this regard has identified economic intelligence, socio-political intelligence and environmental intelligence, as new and important areas wherein we still need to invest resources. We have previously not had this capacity and we have had to develop it. With this type of intelligence we are able provide the state, parastatals and the private sector, with sound economic advice to make us a country as competitive as the best.

We are also continuously improving our trade so that our Services become central to the eradication of crime and corruption that bedevils some of our government departments and structures. Our greater efficiency will ensure that, we as South Africans, will be protected from all the scourges that undermine our democracy and the integrity of the state, including scourges that weaken the government's delivery of services for a better life for all.

I am sharing this with the House because I want Honourable Members to understand the kind of Services we require and the massive training and re-training that is demanded of us. I am also sharing this to show that the Services need to be infused with strategically determined resources to turn this ship to its new direction. More importantly. I am sharing this so that Honourable Members can rally behind the imperative of ensuring national security by supporting the objective of attaining this highly skilled cadreship we need to secure our country.

Allow me, Madam Deputy Speaker, further to inform the House of the initiatives we have undertaken so far to build the kind of Services we are talking of. Shortly after my appointment, we embarked on a process of radically restructuring the Ministry.

Firstly, a Presidential Intelligence Support Unit, which will ensure that the President receives accurate, timely and relevant intelligence reports, is being set up.

Secondly, to introduce a new public relations approach we established a Client Liaison Office to ensure that Cabinet members, departments as well as Parliament, get the support they need.

Thirdly, we introduced a new requirement that every member of my staff will have to acquire a working knowledge of at least one foreign language, apart from the eleven national languages we have, by the end of the financial year. I am doing this because history has taught us that the right information, delivered at the right time in a user-friendly format, increases our chances of making informed, smart and safer choices. Language is the medium for this.

Fourthly, in the past the Services have had a very bad image, which I am convinced, was not of their own making. This image is rather a product of history because Intelligence has historically been abused in the previous dispensation. Regardless of the reasons and the circumstances, this image has had a negative impact on the Services and their efforts. Moreover, the image of incompetence and fumbling has led to a number of misconceptions about the Services and its contribution towards peace and stability in our country and elsewhere in the world. These misconceptions need to be replaced by an understanding of the work the Services do.

As a first step to deal with this problem, I am committing myself to, as far as possible, having an open relationship with the media where I can mediate on behalf of the Services. In the engagement I also hope to pick up on the broader debate started by the President. I would like to engage the media on discussions around the concept of national security. I am hoping that through this engagement, we would establish a common understanding of what can be disclosed publicly and what, through common interest, we agree cannot be disclosed. Let me hasten to add that I am, however, not pleading for a special treatment when we have done wrong. On the contrary, I am intending to establish a common understanding on issues of national security between government and the media, informed by the nature of the work we do.

I will, in addition, be launching a public lecture series where we can think and engage on intelligence matters with all the relevant stakeholders such as universities, non-governmental organisations, human rights organisations and security practitioners in the public and parastatal sphere.

Let me emphasise, Madam Deputy Speaker, that my approach in these interactions would throughout be to give a positive attitude towards the work of the Services. In this regard I am also motivated by the dedication of the staff of the Services, who when I called on them to join me in re-orienting the Services shortly after my appointment, gave me an overwhelmingly positive response.

I appeal to Honourable Members to assist. Let us not fail many positive people whose dedication and commitment to this country is unparalleled. They work without the recognition they deserve, I can assure Honourable Members that nothing is as difficult as working under extremely dangerous conditions where, because of the nature of the work, daily experiences cannot be shared even with the family. The problem is further exacerbated by that human nature has a weakness in that we each want to be recognised or receive some acknowledgement for what we do, and this applies to members of the Services, collectively and individually.

The Services are a national asset. We therefore talk them down at our own peril.

Let me go through our success.

Firstly, I know that Members have been concerned about the issue of the backlog of disciplinary cases within the Services. I would like to take this opportunity to assure Honourable Members that this matter is now under control. On assuming office, I found a number of initiatives underway to improve discipline and organisational conduct within NIA, in particular and the intelligence community in general. These initiatives were aimed at increasing productivity, boosting morale and organisational dedication. Of the cases we have spoken about, we can happily inform Members that I have processed all those that have been submitted to my office. We have also set up a specialised unit to deal with discipline - a move that has significantly reduced the number of outstanding cases.

Secondly, our signal intelligence capacity shows us the potential we can achieve if we continue investing resources in the Services. This capacity is renowned as the best in the continent and competes favourably with those of European powers. It is therefore in our interest to harness this advantage. Thus, we request Honourable Members to support us in our request for investment in this particular field. It is also on this basis that we hope to establish a National Communication Centre.

Madam Speaker, we are hard at work. It pleases me to inform this House that in the few months we have been in the Ministry, we succeeded in creating an understanding of the work we do externally and within state parastatals especially. To position ourselves to fight organised crime more effectively, we have placed emphasis on the co-ordination of the different agencies forming the Security Cluster. We are confident that this emphasis will create a national security net that will enable us to effectively secure both our people and our country.

To meet the awesome challenges we face, we purposefully have turned our attention to providing government with the kind of security information it needs. Chief amongst the requests we receive is assistance to help uncover corruption. Our commitment in assisting government in fighting corruption is motivated by the fact that the preservation of the integrity of the state is our core function. We are therefore aware that if we do not use our resources and skills to fight this scourge, we would by omission be facilitating the erosion of the capacity of the state. It is in this context that the Services have helped the South African Revenue Services (SARS) to conduct investigative work, which contributed to the prevention of the loss of millions of Rands to the state in the form of unpaid revenue.

The Services also assisted the South African Police Services (SAPS) in identifying corrupt government officials, including information peddlers and mongers. Our work in this regard is continuing and is sure to produce even more results in future.

Last year the Services alerted law enforcement agencies about a large shipment of mandrax that was destined for Johannesburg. The quelling of criminal activities in flashpoint areas of the Eastern Cape, Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Cape Peninsula, where taxi violence was threatening to destabilise our communities, including the arrest of the perpetrators of urban terrorism in the Western Cape, and the uncovering of organised crime networks throughout the country, are also some of the successes we count. The special operation that was established to deal with urban terror in the Western Cape is now focused on addressing the root causes of this problem in the province.

The extreme right-wing fringe, which is intent on carrying out subversive activities, was identified including the responsible individuals. Definitive advice to government on the extent of disinformation and the generation of artificial information was given to highlight the methods used by information peddlers and mongers who want to undermine the integrity of the state. Further, at the beginning of last year, a forewarning was provided on three occasions about the planned spread of disinformation within the country.

The Services have identified money laundering, the smuggling and supplying of drugs as well as the operations of various syndicates as paramount importance in our assistance to the South African Police Services. We are creating a special focus to deal with these scourges and are creating smart partners to enable us to be on top of the situation.

For government, the Services conducted audits of information security systems, which resulted in the creation of security awareness programmes by some departments. It also conducted an intensive review exercise aimed at addressing deficiencies in relevant security policies and legislation, including vetting. In the drive to combat corruption within departments, priority attention was given to specific departments such as SARS, the Department of Home Affairs (DHA), Correctional Services (DCS), Justice, Education, Health, Welfare and Finance.

The Services also participated extensively in interdepartmental forums; for example, the investigation of the contravention of the Foreign Military Assistance Act, arms smuggling, drug trafficking, organised people smuggling, armed robberies involving cash, conflict diamonds and trans-national organised crime groupings.

It is important to note that in broadening the scope of intelligence and its understanding, we will be providing fundamental and essential support to the Finance Intelligence Centre (FIC). We are also constantly reviewing our methods and learning from our counter-parts to ensure that we are able to deal with the demands, the crime world is putting before us. In effect, we are a basic service provider for the state and we underpin the success of its most important functions.

Our responsibilities are however not limited to within the boundaries of the country. Internationally, South Africa now occupies a position of moral authority because of its history and gains. Increasingly, the country is being requested to play a leading role in international mediation. This places an additional responsibility on us because we have to provide quality intelligence infrastructure for these efforts. Our external service therefore has had to prioritise the provision of these services. In this regard the South African Secret Services (SASS), together with Defence Intelligence (DI), are actively involved in the Burundi peace process, which our former President Mandela is leading. Honourable Members will recall that initially the process had reached a stalemate and that there was no peace agreement in sight. On the appointment of former President Mandela as the new facilitator, the Services gave intelligence support which assisted in bringing the rebels and the primary leaders of the different warring groupings around the negotiation table.

On the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Services are keeping our government constantly informed about developments, and have identified international role players within that country. The information that the Services gathered, prepared the President for the October 2000 mini-Summit that was held in Maputo, on the DRC peace process. During the Philippines hostage crisis on the Jolo Islands last year, the Services also assisted mediators with critical intelligence required for the negotiations.

In conclusion, allow me, Madam Deputy Speaker, to say something briefly about the intelligence oversight bodies we have established. As Honourable Members will know, an Inspector-General (IG) of Intelligence was appointed on I5 May 2000. Unfortunately, shortly afterwards the then Minister for Intelligence Services fell ill, and an interim Minister acted in his capacity. The process of the establishment of the off-ice of the Inspector- General was considerably slowed down. I am, however, happy to announce that the Office of the Inspector-General is now established.

The Inspector-General has been through a trying time with all these disruptions around him. However, this is all behind us now as the Inspector-General is operational. We are therefore now looking forward to working fruitfully with an additional instrument of oversight over Intelligence.

Madam Deputy Speaker, allow me to also acknowledge the support of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI). I am privileged to work with the Committee and have found a very high degree of understanding of Intelligence amongst its members. I have found that they have the ability to go beyond party political affiliation to deal with matters involving national security. With this Committee and their approach, we can feel confident that our national security interests are safe. They have in the past presided over sensitive national security issues without fear or favour. I have found in the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence an important pillar of support and they have made my work so much easier.

I am also privileged to work with my management team; the Co-ordinator for Intelligence, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency and the South African Secret Services and their Deputy Directors-General (DDGs). During the time I have worked with them they have done me proud. Their dedication, commitment, professionalism and their integrity above all, makes me feel that with this team around me, we will definitely achieve our goals. I am convinced that together we will take the Services to the new height we have spoken of.

I have indicated to the House that I require members of my staff to learn at least one foreign language. What I did not inform Honourable Members about is that each member of my staff is also required to commit an hour per day to a gym session to ensure that we manage the stress caused by managing all that we know about each Member of this House. A very stressful and onerous occupation indeed!

CLOSING REMARKS

I would like Honourable Members to have a positive perspective of the Intelligence Services. If you have to think of them as spooks, think of them as Casper, the friendly ghost.

To my staff, I am very grateful for your 24-hour dedication to ensure that we are at least two steps behind our brave new pioneering President and our intuitive negotiator in Burundi, the Deputy President. We want to assure them that we are the wind beneath their wings.

I would like to say to the Democratic Party that just when I thought that nothing could go right for the Democratic Party, I am proved wrong because something does go right and the Honourable Tony Leon is saved from himself. For, he marries the type of woman who has been, in this short space of time, able lo teach him about such lofty concepts as national security. I now find his utterances about national security so heart warming, I could not have hoped for better and it renews my faith in women - long live women.

And for the ill-fated United Democratic Movement, I want to say that all of us who know Honourable Holomisa knows that he has forever threatened to release the files he claims to have in his possession. He is now beginning to walk with a stoop to the right, both literally and ideologically because of the heavy imaginary files he carries under his arms. If he has any files, the Honourable Holomisa should hand them over to me so that I can relieve him of the burden of having to carry them around. He will then be able to walk up straight.

To the Honourable Rev Meshoe, stick to us. We will take you down the path of righteousness, away from your pyramid schemes.

To the ANC Caucus, we did think of offering our services to plug, the leaks of your caucus, but imagine what a very dull world it would be because the newspapers could not survive without the lifeblood of the leaks from your caucus.

Issued by: Ministry of Intelligence Services, 14 June 2001