By: Staff Reporter
President Cyril Ramaphosa has handed over control of the State Security Agency to Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele.
The Presidency announced on Monday that Ramaphosa has, in terms of Section 209(2) of the Constitution, designated Minister in the Presidency to assume political responsibility for the control and direction of the State Security Agency.
“This is in line with his announcement of 5 August 2021 that the Ministry of State Security would be done away with and political responsibility for the State Security Agency would reside in the Presidency,” spokesperson Tyrone Seale said.
He added that Section 209(2) of the Constitution, which addresses the governance of intelligence services, empowers the President to assume political responsibility for intelligence services other than those of the police or national defence force, or to designate a member of Cabinet to assume this responsibility.
“The President has assigned responsibility for the State Security Agency to Minister Gungubele, who is a Cabinet member, while Deputy Minister Zizi Kodwa continues to serve as Deputy Minister,” he said.
Sources have told the publication that the move was necessitated by the fact that Ramaphosa can’t sign off on intelligence matters.
A source in the Presidency who spoke on condition of anonymity said Ramaphosa’s hand was forced to hand over the reigns to Gungubele.
“As a minister, he is the one that can sign off on State Security matters and he is the one who can respond to Parliamentary questions,” the source said.
The source further added that Deputy Minister in the Presidency Zizi Kodwa is still in charge of the country’s intelligence.
This is an unusual political maneuvering which to me points to the fact that there exist an underlying need of which we are not told kodwa zizovela