The State Security Agency has rejected reports that it had recalled its retired members to assist in foreign operations. These false reports appeared in the City Press newspaper on 22 August 2021 and 07 November 2021 respectively.

In both these reports, the City Press newspaper seems to be hell-bent in spreading false information about the internal workings of the Agency, relying as it does on misinformation that is peddled by some people inside the organization.

According to these false reports, the Agency has embarked on a process of foreign deployment using its retired members who are mostly members of the ANC from exile at the expense of current members. The Acting Director General Ambassador Gab Msimang has dismissed these claims as the continued misinformation and disinformation campaign aimed at stifling the work of the Agency and to tarnish its image.

“There is no truth in the reports that the Agency has preferred its retired members for foreign posting at the expense of its young and current members” he said, “This is the nefarious agenda and work of people who have taken it upon themselves to peddle lies about the work of the Agency.

The reality of the situation is that the Agency has since 2015 had an approved foreign deployment strategy which, together with other directives guide the work of the Agency.

Any foreign deployment of members will be conducted according to these established rules and members who have grievances regarding such deployments know the internal processes available to lodge their grievances.

All the gossip and slander about the deployment of ANC exiles and sidelining of current members is misinformation that the agency rejects with the contempt it deserves” said the Acting Director General.

The Acting Director General has explained that the Agency was working on a strategy to turn around the situation regarding the backlog on vetting. The plan to bring on board retired members had nothing to do with foreign posting but a capacity drive to fast track the eradication of the vetting backlog, which is the terrain of the Domestic Branch.

Unfortunately, the information peddlers either got it all wrong or were deliberately sowing the seeds of confusion about this situation.

“It is a pity that the City Press has allowed itself to be used for such disinformation campaign which has the potential to ruin its own image in the coverage of news” he said. “We know they have sources inside but the City Press must be cautioned not to drive a destructive misinformation campaign that may compromise its own reputation as a news reporter” said the Acting Director General.

In the previous report, the City Press acknowledged by its own admission in the story that they could not independently verify some of the information from its sources.

The Acting Director General also observed that there seems to be a concerted effort through both of these articles to attack the integrity and personal standing of the Acting Head of the Foreign Branch, Ms. Joyce Mashele, which is fueled in the main by the same elements within the organization.

“This practice is highly unacceptable and as said before, the Agency is geared towards rooting out elements that feed falsehoods to willing peddlers like the City Press about the internal workings of the organization” he said.

The focus of the Agency remains the fulfilment of its Constitutional Mandate, which is the safeguarding of the territorial integrity of the Republic and the safety of its citizens. The Agency is also firmly on course in the implementation of the recommendations of the High Level Review Panel on National Security. Those remain the strategic focus areas of the Agency and any other distraction such as these false reports will be seen for what they are and will not in any way hinder the Agency from executing its lawful mandate.

Source: Government of South Africa