ANC to re-establish National Security Council – with DA’s approval

Minister Jackson Mthembu announced that Cabinet has approved the re-establishment of the National Security Council (NSC) in an effort to streamline the coordination of all security related work of the country.

The council, Mthembu said, will be responsible for the approval of the National Security Strategy, the National Intelligence priorities of the country and National Intelligence Estimates. This serves as an attempt to rebuild South Africa’s stripped-down security services, which were battered during state capture.

What is the National Security Council?

Jacob Zuma’s administration gave key security roles to dubious characters – with some reports claiming that disgraced fromer spy boss Arthur Fraser had diverted national secrets to his own computer server before passing them on to the State Security Agency (SSA). The rebuilding job on this is now well underway, however. A number of the big-wigs from the ANC’s Cabinet will form the NSC:

• Chair of the National Security Council: Cyril Ramaphosa
• Deputy Chair: David Mabuza
• Defence and Military Veterans Minister: Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
• State Security Minister: Ayanda Dlodlo.
• Others members include: Aaron Motsoaledi, Bheki Cele, Tito Mboweni and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Even the DA are on board

The decision has even gained the cautious approval of the DA. Shadow Minister of State Security Dianne Kohler-Barnard is in favour of the move, but she vowed to monitor their operations with hawk-like precision:

“We cautiously welcome the re-establishment of the National Security Council (NSC). The DA will closely monitor the reestablishment of this unit and ensure that history does not repeat itself. This Council must not be above scrutiny, as it will take immense effort to regain local and international trust.”

“It is common knowledge that the State Security Agency became one of the areas of mass-looting during the Zuma era. It was under Zuma that the NSC was side-lined, and the SSA manipulated to become his private spy centre. During those years, our formerly globally-admired entity became a laughing stock.”

Dianne Kohler-Barnard