Ntshavheni Says SSA Ready for Complete Overhaul Amid MK Party, EFF Incompetency Criticism

Tabling the budget for the SSA in Parliament on Monday, Ntshavheni said much of the improvements depend on President Cyril Ramaphosa signing into law a new bill passed in March.

Ntshavheni says SSA ready for complete overhaul amid MK Party, EFF incompetency criticism

Khumbudzo Ntshavheni. Picture: GCIS

CAPE TOWN - While the uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have slammed the country’s intelligence services as ineffective and incompetent, Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says the State Security Agency (SSA) is ready for a complete overhaul.

Tabling the budget for the SSA in Parliament on Monday, Ntshavheni said much of the improvements depend on President Cyril Ramaphosa signing into law a new bill passed in March.

But opposition parties have criticised the SSA for failing to pre-empt the 2021 KwaZulu-Natal riots and for allegedly covering up scandals like Phala Phala.

As with most government departments, a depleted fiscus means the secret service will have to do its job with a 10% budget cut.

However, Ntshavheni said the agency is ready to revert to two agencies — foreign and domestic — as per the new General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill.

“As we move to the new agency, we want to be projected as an organisation that is ready to build State capacity that is ethical and has integrity.”

But the EFF’s Marshall Dlamini rejected the budget because of the slow pace of transformation, calling the SSA useless and unproductive.

“Our intelligence agencies still have to unlock the several infiltrations in misinformation and information peddlers within its ranks.”

Meanwhile, the MK Party’s Sihle Ngubane, an information technology specialist, bemoaned the agency’s lack of capacity to protect the State against cybersecurity threats.