If any proof was required that Zuma-era appointments still complicate the Ramaphosa presidency, you need to look no further than the State Security Agency. Last week, the inspector-general of intelligence, Setlhomamaru Dintwe, took the extreme step of going to court to force the State Security Agency to comply with his legally designated powers. In the court papers it became clear that the head of the agency, Arthur Fraser, the country’s top spy, had withdrawn Dintwe’s security clearance. In the papers, Fraser said he had done so because Dintwe could not be trusted with state secrets. The application is remarkable for a number of reasons. Dintwe is effectively Fraser’s boss. In withdrawing his security clearance and taking other measures, Fraser is essentially undermining his own superior’s office. He is also effectively trying to cripple, not Dintwe’s desires or preference, but his explicit legal responsibility. The Intelligence Services Oversight Act (40 of 1994) gives Dintwe wide...
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