SA’s Spy Agency
By Thabo Mosia
President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed into law the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill on Friday, 28 March 2025, ushering in major reforms to South Africa’s intelligence services. This landmark legislation dismantles the current State Security Agency (SSA) and replaces it with two distinct entities: the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) and the Domestic Intelligence Agency (DIA). According to Vincent Magwenya, the Presidency spokesperson, the new amendment Act aims to strengthen oversight and accountability within the intelligence sector, addressing long-standing concerns about corruption, abuse of power, and poor governance that have plagued the country’s spy agencies.
A Bold Step Towards Intelligence Reform
South Africa’s intelligence services have been under scrutiny for years, with allegations of misuse ranging from political interference to financial mismanagement. The signing of the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill marks a turning point, fulfilling promises made by President Ramaphosa to overhaul the sector. “Among other reforms, the Amendment Act disestablishes the current State Security Agency as a national government department and replaces it with two separate departments,” Magwenya explained during a briefing on the day of the signing.
The decision to split the SSA into the FIS and DIA is not just a structural change—it’s a response to deep-rooted problems exposed by two major investigations: the 2018 Presidential High-Level Review Panel on the SSA, led by Sydney Mufamadi, and the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector, commonly known as the Zondo Commission. Both probes uncovered how the SSA had been repurposed during former President Jacob Zuma’s tenure to serve political agendas rather than national security, leaving South Africans demanding accountability and reform.
Under the new setup, the FIS will focus on gathering foreign intelligence to spot opportunities and threats beyond South Africa’s borders. Meanwhile, the DIA will handle counter-intelligence and domestic intelligence collection to tackle internal security risks. This division aims to prevent the concentration of power that allowed past abuses, ensuring each agency has a clear, focused mandate.
Strengthening Oversight and Training
The new law doesn’t stop at splitting the SSA. It also updates three cornerstone pieces of legislation: the National Strategic Intelligence Act of 1994, the Intelligence Services Act of 2002, and the Intelligence Services Oversight Act of 1994. These updates are designed to bring South Africa’s intelligence framework into the 21st century, aligning it with democratic values and tightening controls to prevent future scandals.
One significant change is the re-establishment of the South African National Academy of Intelligence (SANAI) and the Intelligence Training Institute. “The wide-ranging amendments constitute implementation of the recommendations of the 2018 Presidential High-Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency (SSA) and of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector (the Zondo Commission),” Magwenya said. These institutions will train intelligence officers for both the FIS and DIA, ensuring they’re equipped with the skills needed to protect the nation without overstepping their bounds.
Training has been a weak link in the past, with reports highlighting how poorly prepared staff contributed to the SSA’s failures. By reviving SANAI, the government hopes to professionalise the intelligence services, making them more effective and less prone to the kinds of errors—or deliberate abuses—that marked the state capture era.
The law also tackles a controversial issue: the bulk interception of internet traffic. Previously, intelligence agencies could monitor vast amounts of online communication with little oversight, raising privacy concerns among citizens and civil society groups. The new legislation introduces stricter measures, requiring internal authorisation and court reviews for such activities. This move is seen as a win for transparency, balancing national security needs with the rights of ordinary South Africans.
Roots of the Reform: Lessons from State Capture
To understand why this reform matters, we need to look back at the chaos that prompted it. During Jacob Zuma’s presidency from 2009 to 2018, the SSA became a tool for political survival rather than a guardian of national security. The Zondo Commission, chaired by Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, laid bare how the agency was used to spy on political rivals, manipulate elections, and funnel money into questionable projects—all under the guise of protecting the state.
The 2018 High-Level Review Panel, appointed by Ramaphosa shortly after he took office, dug even deeper. It found that merging the old National Intelligence Agency (domestic) and South African Secret Service (foreign) into the SSA in 2009 had created a monster: a single, bloated agency with too much power and too little accountability. The panel recommended splitting it back into separate domestic and foreign branches, a suggestion echoed by the Zondo Commission and now brought to life with this new law.
The reforms also respond to public outrage over specific incidents. For instance, the SSA was implicated in operations to disrupt Ramaphosa’s 2017 ANC leadership campaign, including efforts to block the distribution of his campaign materials and spread misinformation. Such abuses eroded trust in the intelligence services, making the need for change undeniable.
How the New Agencies Will Work
The Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) is tasked with keeping an eye on the world beyond South Africa’s borders. Magwenya explained that it will focus on “foreign intelligence gathering to identify both opportunities and threats to national security.” This could mean tracking international crime syndicates, monitoring geopolitical tensions, or spotting economic opportunities that could benefit the country. In a globalised world where threats like cyberattacks and terrorism don’t respect borders, the FIS aims to give South Africa a sharper edge.
On the home front, the Domestic Intelligence Agency (DIA) will take charge of counter-intelligence and internal security. “The DIA will focus on counter-intelligence and gathering intelligence within South Africa to address security threats,” Magwenya noted. This includes rooting out corruption, thwarting espionage by foreign agents, and keeping tabs on domestic extremist groups. By splitting these roles, the government hopes to avoid the overlap and overreach that plagued the SSA.
Both agencies will report to the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, a multiparty parliamentary body that handles public complaints and oversees finances and operations. The law also boosts the independence of the Inspector-General of Intelligence and the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee, giving them more power to make decisions without interference from the very agencies they’re meant to watch.
A Broader Push for Accountability
The intelligence reforms don’t exist in a vacuum—they’re part of a bigger effort to clean up South Africa’s public sector. On the same day Ramaphosa signed the bill, the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) announced a sweeping probe into corruption and maladministration across government departments and state-owned entities like Eskom, Transnet, and the SABC. The SIU’s mission mirrors the intelligence reforms: recover lost funds, fix broken systems, and hold wrongdoers accountable.
This synergy reflects Ramaphosa’s broader agenda to rebuild trust in government after the state capture years. With unemployment above 33% and the economy still shaky, South Africans are desperate for signs that their leaders are serious about fixing what’s broken. The intelligence bill, with its focus on oversight and transparency, is a concrete step in that direction.
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