South Africa's intelligence watchdog is failing civil society
How to restore its credibility.
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How to restore its credibility.
In October, South African president Cyril Ramaphosa and his cabinet committed to a range of reforms to the country’s intelligence services. He based these reforms on recommendations made by the judicial commission of inquiry into state capture.
The new inspector-general of intelligence needs to act urgently to restore the credibility of the office. This includes resolving a range of civil society complaints about alleged intelligence abuses.
The only parliamentary committee established in law to signal the seriousness of spooks’ accountability, the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, was ‘inefficient’ and ‘dysfunctional’, according to the Zondo Commission’s final report.