Publications
Partners
The National Assembly has approved the candidacy of Setlhomamaru Isaac Dintwe as the next inspector-general of intelligence – the spooks ombudsman.
A whopping 299 MPs (74.8%) endorsed Dintwe’s candidacy yesterday. The EFF was the only party that did not support him.
Two-thirds of the National Assembly MPs are required to support an inspector-general’s nomination for it to go through. The final appointment is made by the president.
Parliament has tried several times since April last year to fill the vacancy left by Faith Radebe at the end of March 2015. But the process has seen a number of stops and starts as opposition parties frustrated quorum, which meant the House could not even engage with the matter.
Some of the processes were abandoned at the committee stage without even going to the House.
Early this month the joint standing committee on intelligence interviewed candidates for the position over two days; last week it announced that Dintwe was chosen as the MPs’ preferred candidate based on his performance during the interview.
Tabling the report of the joint standing committee on intelligence in the National Assembly yesterday, ANC MP Charles Nqakula – who also chairs the committee – said while MPs from different parties may have had their preferred candidates before the interviews, when the MPs met to discuss candidates “there was convergence on one candidate who did very well during the interviews”.
Nqakula also spoke about gaps in the law that had been exposed during the search for a new inspector-general, saying it was necessary to revisit some of the stipulations in the Intelligence Services Oversight Act and the rules of the joint standing committee on intelligence.
Nqakula spoke about how senior personnel in the inspector-general’s office decided “nobly, I believe, to keep the office functional”.
“In the circumstances, they even performed some of the functions of the inspector-general, contravening therefore, the relevant injunctions of the Intelligence Services Oversight Act,” said Nqakula.
He called on Parliament to consider amending the act to create a position for a deputy inspector of intelligence, who will act as the incumbent when the inspector-general is not in office.
DA chief whip John Steenhuisen spoke about the importance of having an inspector-general of intelligence.
He said the framers of the Constitution set up the office to ensure that never again in the post 1994-democracy would South Africa end up with a situation where the intelligence services were subject to wholesale abuse by politicians, used as a weapon against democracy, a tool against political opponents, and to unleash state aggression against opponents.
“I think it’s an indictment on this House that we left this position unfilled for over a year and a half ...” Steenhuisen said.
He congratulated Nqakula for his appointment to the committee, saying: “We are already seeing a massive sea change in the efficiency and effectiveness of this committee, long may it last.”
Steenhuisen said the DA supported Dintwe because “in our view, he emerged from the interview process as the best candidate”.
“He is also untainted by any former involvement with the security services and we believe he will be the right candidate to conduct proper civilian oversight over this,” he said.
EFF’s Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said the EFF opposed Dintwe’s nomination because it didn’t trust him, but also they were not comfortable with the manner the ANC lobbied for him.
“We do not trust that he will properly investigate the failure of our intelligence services to protect our people and not Mr Zuma and his corrupt elites,” said Ndlozi.
He claimed since President Jacob Zuma took office, the intelligence services have been used to fight political battles instead of making the country safe.
 |
| ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
