Secret funding and the State Security Agency: holding intelligence services accountable
Author: Vicky Heideman
Recent findings by the Zondo Commission on State Capture, and by the High Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency, have noted that the lack of appropriate transparency and oversight on expenditure by South Africa’s intelligence agencies have enabled corruption and abuse of power in these agencies. This report, commissioned by the Media Policy and Democracy Project and published by Intelwatch, examines the shortcomings in the legislation that regulates how South Africa’s State Security Agency funds its secret operations and functions, and puts forward recommendations for changes to funding and accountability mechanisms based on international trends. In particular, it examines the need to address the use of a Secret Services Account, established under Apartheid legislation, to fund covert operations by the State Security Agency and the Crime Intelligence of the South African Police Service (SAPS).
The author, Vicky Heideman, is a member of the Rivonia Group of Advocates, and was an evidence leader at the Zondo commission into State Capture.
