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Parliament’s Joint Committee on Intelligence has until today to reconsider its decision regarding the confidentiality of CVs of candidates who have been shortlisted for the post of Inspector-General for intelligence.
But Charles Nqakula, committee chair, told the Legal Resources Centre in a letter that the CVs were only meant to be seen by members of Parliament.
“CVs are of such a nature that their confidential treatment, especially in this process, is reasonable and justifiable in an open and democratic society.”
A group of about 10 civil organisations is demanding that the process must be open and transparent.
These organisations include: the Right2Know campaign, the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution, Open Democracy Advice Centre, Corruption Watch, amaBhungane, the Parliamentary Monitoring Group, the Human Sciences Research Council and the Dullah Omar Institute.
Should Nqakula not change his mind, this process is expected to be challenged in court, which could delay the process even more. The top spy watchdog post has been vacant for more than 18 months.
The Inspector-General is seen as an important buffer between the public and possible abuses of intelligence services.
The group said in a statement that Nqakula’s decision is a setback.
“The recent Public Protector appointment process showed how important it is for candidates’ CVs to be public and open to scrutiny. Several of the candidates in that process were members of the intelligence structures, and their CVs were published without any harm.”
“We have been down this path before, with three unsuccessful attempts since March 2015 to appoint an Inspector-General without the necessary transparency. We repeat: the Inspector-General is a public watchdog. Whoever is appointed will oversee a wide range of important public functions: from overseeing the rules on internet surveillance to keeping spies out of domestic politics or monitoring of journalists and activists.”
The group argued that without candidates’ CVs, the public would be excluded from this important process.
When the 17 candidates were whittled down to 10 this week, Nqakula read out the names to the media and even spelled them, but didn’t make the full list with the necessary background details available.
