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Members of the media

The Ministry for Intelligence Services has, as part of the programme of government, been involved in initiatives aimed at pushing back the frontiers of poverty and alleviating the plight of the most vulnerable members of our society. To this end, we have reviewed our capacity to produce relevant, timely, user-friendly intelligence that informs government decision-making. This is the expression of the new national security doctrine of ensuring that our people are free from want and fear as is captured in the White Paper on Intelligence.

The work of the Intelligence Services provides the environment within which the social development programme of government unfolds. To this end, we have been working closely with other state departments in eradicating the scourge of corruption, which robs our people of the dearly needed resources. In addition, we are enhancing government endeavours towards peace and security on the continent and further afield through conflict prevention, management and resolution.

To this end, our government has committed itself to participating in the rebuilding of the African continent. For example, our work is pushing back the frontiers of poverty on the continent in a context of peace and stability. This is central to the programme of action of the African Union and supplements the New Partnership for Africa's Development.

The demands of globalisation have brought on many challenges for Intelligence Services across the world. These new challenges have necessitated the improvement of skills and tradecraft of our members, changing the operational environment by balancing secrecy and transparency, focusing on human security issues that are transnational in nature and finding new ways of securing the state.

To gain an edge over our competitors, we are applying our minds creatively towards enhancing the capacity of the Services. This session of parliament will see the tabling of five pieces of Intelligence Legislation aimed at:

* The establishment of the South African National Academy of Intelligence which will be a national resource for intelligence research and training. The South African National Academy of Intelligence will have the expressed responsibility of ensuring that every member of the Intelligence Service is multi-skilled and equipped to perform optimally in the conditions facing our country.

* The establishment of an Intelligence Services Council on Conditions of Service which will attend to matters of equity and development and the constant review of conditions of service under which our members work - as they are not covered by the labour relations legislation of our country. The aim of the Council is to ensure that we improve service delivery within the Intelligence Services to our clients by retaining the most critical skills in our quest to ensure that members of the Services remain life-long intelligence officers.

* Cabinet's recent decision to recognise the years of service and to amend the Pensions Act will allow non-statutory intelligence services members who served our country prior to 1994 to receive pensions commensurate with those who have always been in statutory service.

* Telecommunications is the bedrock of economic activity in the world today. The advent of e-commerce and the use of the Internet has given rise to new challenges with the protection of government information and business transactions. In order to make sure that our government and our people can run their affairs more securely we are setting up the company, Electronic Communications Security (Pty) Limited. To this end Cabinet has approved the Comsec Bill which will soon be tabled in Parliament. This Bill allows for the establishment of an agency to provide secure electronic communications services to all government departments and state organs in a bid to make us less vulnerable to hostile hackers as has been the experience in other countries. This is vital for South Africa's development.

* In the National Strategic Intelligence Amendments Bill, also soon to be tabled in Parliament, the mandate of NIA is being refined together with that of the Crime Intelligence Service of the SAPS, The latter is going to be given a responsibility of co-ordinating crime intelligence in all our departments.

* NIA's counter-intelligence mandate is not only aimed at the protection of strategic information of the state, it also focuses on reducing corruption within government. To this end significant progress has been made with the implementation of the Minimum Information Security Standards (MISS). A number of departments have appointed security managers. These security managers, in conjunction with NIA, are responsible for the protection of classified information and investigating and preventing security threats relating to the department. As said earlier, this includes rooting out corruption in government departments.

Outcomes of recent programmes

The outcome of the recent African Union Summit was a success in many respects. One of the biggest successes has been that this special event took place without any major disruption and that Heads of State and delegates were able to participate in a secure environment. South Africa's hosting of this event has enhanced our profile in the international arena and can only bid well for future opportunities to host events of this stature and magnitude.

As South Africans we are very proud to be hosting the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). This is the largest event being hosted in the world by the United Nations. For South Africans the event is of further significance as it provides the platform for grappling with issues of poverty eradication, sustainable development and environment protection.

However, with the opportunity afforded us to host this huge event has come the enormous challenge and responsibility to ensure that the event takes place without disruption. At present, we project that the event will be a resounding success. The physical security of the venues and the vicinity is a function of the South African Police Services (SAPS). NIA's role is to identify potential threats to the conference and to advise on security measures to be adopted by the security services. Security measures and plans are in place. This is our contribution to sustainable development.

Our contribution to sustainable development goes further with the Intelligence Services' enhancement of its capacity to make a significant contribution to economic policy and strategy. We do this through the provision of advice, identifying opportunities for government and creating conditions of stability in order to effect development. The Intelligence Services are concerned about service delivery and the implementation of government programmes such as Black Economic Empowerment and Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs).

We continue to play a critical role in ensuring an intelligence driven approach towards the combating of organised crime - by law enforcement agencies such as the SAPS and the National Prosecution Authority.

During the Budget Vote Debate, I announced that a Review Committee on Classification and Declassification of information will be set up. I now would like to announce the chairperson of the Review Committee - Mr Hlubi Radebe, Group Executive, Corporate Services in SITA. He will work in close conjunction with members from the Intelligence Services, Justice and Constitutional Development and the National Archives.

Classification and Declassification is an international phenomenon, which forms an integral part of the tradecraft of Intelligence Services. However, it is a process that needs to be carried out with circumspection, bearing in mind the mandate of the Intelligence Services, and the rights of the public to have access to information.

The Review Committee will be required to review existing legislation governing classified documents and information and will include a review of acts such as the Protection of Information Act of 1982 and the National Archives Act of 1996. We expect the interdepartmental task team to complete their work by March 2003.

One of our greatest challenges remains changing public perception about the role of intelligence in our democracy. As I said during last year, the success of the Intelligence Services in fulfilling its role of national security depends on the confidence it can infuse in the public. It is only then that each citizen of this country can play a role in the protection of our country.

Thank you for your time.

Issued by the Ministry for Intelligence Services, 19 August 2002