LEGAL BATTLE
KARYN MAUGHAN: Alice in Wonderland spy-agency case is potentially a game-changer
Intelligence watchdog to press on with court bid to ensure probe into claims against top spy goes ahead
Just days before the High Court in Pretoria was to hear a landmark legal dispute between SA’s most powerful spy and the head of the watchdog body meant to hold him accountable, President Cyril Ramaphosa removed State Security Agency director-general Arthur Fraser from his position. Fraser’s efforts to revoke the inspector-general of intelligence’s security clearance, which he needs to be able to investigate Fraser himself, had verged on farce. However, for all the Alice in Wonderland aspects to this unprecedented battle between the previously untouchable State Security Agency head and intelligence inspector-general Setlhomamaru Dintwe, it remains a potentially game-changing case. Lawyers for Dintwe are determined that the issues raised by him, specifically his office’s ability to provide real and consequential oversight of SA’s spies, be decided by a court of law. They have told Business Day that they will go to court on Thursday to ensure that Dintwe’s security clearance is reinsta...
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