THE INSIDER: Don’t forget the welcome bag …
State Security Minister David Mahlobo mostly has the means to expose foreign intelligence services suspected of spreading lies, influencing gullible social activists and generally undermining SA
Like his boss, President Jacob Zuma, State Security Minister David Mahlobo has long suspected foreign intelligence services of spreading lies, influencing gullible social activists and generally undermining SA. Foreign spies – for Mahlobo this largely means Americans, Brits and other westerners – are apparently hell-bent on destabilising the government with a view to overthrowing it. But Mahlobo has the means, or almost has it, to know who these spies are so that they can’t operate in the shadows any longer. Under the Protection of State Information Bill (informally, the secrecy bill), all foreign agents working in SA, or people waiting to be activated into service, must register with the State Security Agency. Although this bill has not yet been signed into law, any sincere foreign spies with an ounce of integrity and respect for their host country will have registered already with the sinister-sounding SSA. The bill doesn’t require that these spies report to the SSA’s offices, so ...
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