Note to Editors: Please see attached soundbite from Dianne Kohler Barnard MP
The Democratic Alliance has written to the Inspector-General for Intelligence to request that his office probes recent reports that Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni has given marching orders to all State Security Agency (SSA) employees over the age of 50.
It has been reported that the Minister has called some 200 members of the SSA’s top brass to attention, announcing that every employee in the SSA above the age of 50 are to take early retirement or face retrenchment. Further reports indicate that the same ultimatum will be given to the rest of the SSA’s staff in time.
The DA is concerned that such a sweeping move by the Minister will force much-needed intelligence expertise out the door, without any consideration as to each member’s individual contribution to the SSA’s functions. Without the protections afforded by the Labour Relations Act, SSA employees are further constrained in finding suitable recourse.
Following the findings of the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, which exposed grave wrongdoing within the SSA, the DA reiterated its calls for the disbandment of the entity in its entirety in order to replace it with a fully independent, efficient, and transparent state security agency, free from party-political interference. The DA maintains that the parliamentary oversight roles in respect of our national security apparatus must be intensified.
To date, no arrests have been made nor any funds recovered after the looting of the SSA during the nine lost years under former President Zuma. The entity has failed to cull the bad actors from its ranks, and has made little to no progress in rehabilitating its structures after the Capture Years.
However, a blanket call for the early retirement – and failing that, the retrenchment – of hundreds of SSA staff, without an assessment being conducted as to their performance, expertise, knowledge, or political and personal connections and involvement in nefarious activities, is throwing the baby out with the bathwater.
Without considering the value of each member on their own merits, or demerits, it is difficult to see how the Minister can justify culling hundreds of employees with centuries of experience in one fell swoop.
The DA has also prepared a raft of parliamentary questions to the Minister on this matter, which will be submitted to her in the near future.