SA on “high alert” to deal with any threats, says minister

Minister of State Security Ayanda Dlodlo said South Africa was ready to deal with any security threat, and wouldn’t remain neutral in the face of potential threats to the nation or its citizens.

In a rare and exclusive interview with the SA Jewish Report last week, the minister expressed confidence in the State Security Agency’s (SSA’s) ability to provide the government with intelligence on domestic and foreign threats or potential threats to national stability and the safety of all citizens.

“I wouldn’t have agreed to this interview if I had doubts about our capabilities, I would have found an excuse not to have this interview,” she said.

“But I’m confident that we are able, we have the wherewithal, and we have the political will to ensure South Africans are protected against any threat, whether internal or external. We are ready.”

The minister was invited to a private meeting over lunch last Thursday, 29 April, with members of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) to discuss safety and security and other matters of importance to the community including terrorism and counter-terrorism.

She told the SAJBD that she didn’t see the Jewish community as separate from the rest of the country, saying, “I don’t view the Jewish community as an appendage of another country. This was a meeting between South Africans for the greater good of all South Africans.”

Zev Krengel, the vice-president of the SAJBD, said communal leadership was grateful that the minister was “willing to engage”, and had spent more than two hours in discussion.

“We were granted an unbelievable level of access to a minister of state security, which we are grateful for. She gave us assurances about our safety and security, and showed a willingness to engage with the community. She also understood where we are coming from as a minority community that’s vulnerable to attack – one that’s a bigger target than the average South African. She understood this.”

Dlodlo, who is also a member of the Inter-Ministerial Committee on COVID-19, was in Cape Town this week testing security at vaccination cites around the city. The SSA is auditing the level of security at these sites, she told the SA Jewish Report.

The minister’s calm demeanour belied the torrid time she has been through following bombshell revelations about the country’s security services which were recently revealed during testimony at the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture.

Her department has been thrust into the spotlight following testimony which showed that the SSA – which is meant to provide the government with intelligence on domestic and foreign threats – was used to fight factional battles in the African National Congress and engage in alleged corrupt activity.

The minister has been working hard to rebuild public confidence in the SSA.

Dlodlo’s job has been compounded by the violent insurgency in the north eastern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado with added fears that Islamic State (IS) terror and organised crime syndicates could grip the entire southern African region. Security experts have warned that the IS message could potentially transcend borders and reach IS sympathisers in South Africa where there is already a known and worrying presence.

Dlodlo said the security threats felt by the Jewish community were felt by all South Africans.

“My hands are full, but I have a good team in place,” she said.

“The far right does pose a threat, and the problems we are facing with insurgents in Mozambique and some semblance of it in the DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo] poses a threat to all of us.

“The most important thing for us as the intelligence community is to be a step ahead in identifying what the threat is and finding a way to deal with it. It’s not necessarily a threat towards a particular community, it’s a universal threat to the people of South Africa.”

She said it was the nature of intelligence work that the public was largely left in the dark about its successes.

“You hear about the failures of intelligence, but one does not hear about the work that intelligence does that keeps all of us safe. We have a fantastic team across the agency that works very hard and whose primary responsibility is ensuring territorial integrity and also protecting the sovereignty of our nation,” she said.

“Ours is not work that speaks to publicity, it’s work that is done behind the scenes in support of law enforcement agencies.”

The minister expressed confidence in the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee, the organisation responsible for co-ordinating the actions and activities of all of South African intelligence agencies and collating the information received from them. Likewise the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure, which includes all government departments within the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster, including the South African Police Service.

“South Africans must rest assured, we have a formidable counter-terrorism unit which is properly capacitated and has been enhanced technologically, so there should be some semblance of comfort from what I say. I cannot say more than what I’m saying now because I don’t want to give out more information that will help people plan better to avoid detection by our intelligence agencies.”

As far as the insurgency in Mozambique goes, Dlodlo said South Africa couldn’t be neutral.

“If there is a threat in South Africa and a threat resides in a particular country, we have to deal with that. We have to work with the authorities in those countries to make sure the threat doesn’t find its way into the borders of South Africa.

“We had a direct threat issued to say if we do intervene in Mozambique, we will face the fire. Our military is ready for that. And so are the intelligence agencies across crime, defence, or national intelligence services. We are all on high alert. We are part of the regional intelligence bodies that are monitoring the situation.”