Earlier this year allegations of widespread financial irregularities and distortion of the mandate of South Africa’s State Security Agency were made at the judicial commission on grand corruption. The agency is responsible for collecting intelligence on domestic and foreign threats to the country.
Sound corporate governance dictates that mechanisms should have been in place to ensure continuous accountability, at all levels of the organisation. All intelligence services trade in secrets. They conduct covert operations with due consideration for ‘plausible deniability’, which means that government can deny any involvement in any covert operations and there would be nothing that linked it with the operations. This enables them to cover their tracks when an intelligence operative is, for example, caught infiltrating an ally or adversary.
These allegations have serious implications for its operations and matters of trust within and beyond the country. This created trust in the intelligence services. They were lauded for their role in securing many major international events, including the 1995 Rugby World Cup and 2010 FIFA World Cup.Reputational damage: The reputational damage suffered by the agency may also affect its relations with intelligence partners in other countries. This is particularly important for the training and development work the agency provides to neighbouring countries.