Unstable, dysfunctional and ill-prepared to deal with a threat to national security.
This is the picture painted of SA’s law enforcement and intelligence head honchos, which made the country even more vulnerable to the deadly unrest that hit KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in July last year.
An expert panel report released on Monday has revealed that not only had the National Security Council, chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa, not met for a while before the violence erupted, the government had ignored a warning that the country was ripe for unrest last year.
When the riots began, police and intelligence structures were slow off the mark, even though some of the plans to disrupt the economy were discussed on social media.
The panel, led by professor Sandy Africa as chair and two additional members, advocate Mojankunyane Gumbi and Silumko Sokupa, was asked by Ramaphosa last year to review the government’s response to the unrest that was characterised by orchestrated public violence, destruction and sabotage over a week.
Their report has found that though the unrest was initially motivated by protest against former president Jacob Zuma’s incarceration, other opportunists and organised criminals quickly jumped on the looting bandwagon because there was no push back from the police.
In some cases, “organised looters had inside information on how to enter and made their way around large stores, warehouses and distribution centres. They could operate forklifts and other machinery necessary to remove goods.
“When these sites were targeted, it is interesting how people arrived with large vehicles and some even commandeered trucks to take away the goods.”
Among intelligence failures, the report found that some spies hesitated to gather intelligence about politically connected people, fearing they may be castigated and accused of interfering in politics.
“Dysfunctional relationships between ministers and their senior leadership teams in the departments in some cases impeded synergy in the flow of intelligence, which affected decision making,” the report said.
The panel recommended that Ramaphosa urgently bring stability to the State Security Agency (SSA) by appointing suitable people to positions of leadership.
Ramaphosa recently placed SSA under the control of minister in the presidency Mondli Gungubele.
Gungubele did not respond to questions on the report on Monday.
The panel also recommended that the crime intelligence division of the police, which also has no permanent head, be stabilised urgently.
“There are good officers in this section of the police who are dedicated to their work but are frustrated by the instability at the top, including [that which is] introduced to the police structures by instability in the governing party.”
The expert panel found that SA’s recently introduced Cybercrimes Act would have given the state additional muscle to clamp down on the looting spree and could be used to prevent future unrest from taking place.
“The recent signing into law of the Cybercrimes Act (Act 19 of 2020) may provide the state with additional tools to counter cybercrimes committed on computer platforms, and provide clarity on where the lines should be drawn on legitimate voicing on political opinion using digital tools, and the use of such tools to threaten persons with damage to property or violence, or to send data messages which incite damage to property or violence,” the report says.
The act also provides the SAPS with the authority to investigate, search, seize and co-operate with foreign governments to investigate cybercrimes.
“Some have argued that if the act had already been in operation in the period before the unrest, it might have been possible to apprehend any instigators using social media platforms,” the report says.
The report noted the July riot ringleaders remained largely faceless and used social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook to mobilise rioters.
“They left a clear trail of evidence and as a result several could be apprehended and charged. The use of social media platforms seemed to confound the security services, who seemed unable to process the information that was spreading in the community and to respond by putting in place operational plans to respond.”
The panel recommended that cabinet take overall responsibility for the July unrest, hold officials who failed accountable and give regular feedback on what was happening to ensure those who planned and instigated the violence were brought to book.
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