President Ramaphosa Enacts Major Intelligence Reforms with New Bill

Pretoria: President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill into law, initiating a significant restructuring of South Africa's intelligence services. The newly enacted legislation will lead to the division of the State Security Agency (SSA) into two distinct departments, focusing on foreign and domestic intelligence. According to South African Government News Agency, the amendment Act modifies the National Strategic Intelligence Act of 1994, the Intelligence Services Act of 2002, and the Intelligence Services Oversight Act of 1994. The reforms aim to enhance oversight and accountability within the intelligence community. Notably, the State Security Agency will be disbanded and replaced by the Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) and the Domestic Intelligence Agency (DIA). The FIS will handle foreign intelligence to pinpoint both opportunities and threats to national security, while the DIA will focus on counter-intelligence and domestic intelligence to identify internal threats. Furthermore, the amendment Act reinstates the South African National Academy of Intelligence (SANAI) and the Intelligence Training Institute to bolster both domestic and foreign intelligence capabilities. These changes are part of the implementation of recommendations from the 2018 Presidential High-Level Review Panel on the SSA and the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption, and Fraud in the Public Sector, commonly known as the Zondo Commission. The legislation also addresses concerns regarding the bulk interception of internet traffic entering or leaving South Africa, introducing new measures that include authorisation protocols within intelligence services and court reviews of such interceptions. Additionally, the law mandates that the administration, financial management, and expenditure of intelligence services fall under the oversight of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, a multiparty parliamentary committee that handles public complaints and monitors th e finances and operations of intelligence entities. The amendments also grant more autonomy to the Inspector-General of Intelligence and the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee (NICOC), allowing them greater independence in making administrative and functional decisions.