Cape Town - Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence (JSCI) on Wednesday added three more names to a shortlist of candidates for the position of South Africa’s new inspector general of intelligence.
Mahlubandile Radebe, formerly with the South African Secret Service, and two women with experience in the SA National Defence Force - Annelize Gerber and Desire Fouche - applied for the position after MPs on the committee decided to re-advertise it.
Committee chairwoman Connie September said the committee would invite the applicants and ensure the interviews start as soon as possible.
The inspector general of intelligence is the civilian oversight and complaints body dealing with the country’s spies.
In February, the JSCI shortlisted former committee chair Cecil Valentine Burgess, along with Clinton Paul Davids, Mathe Matthews Diseko, Imtiaz Fazel, Jayashree Govender, Smanga Phillip Jele, Andile Barnabas Kilifele and Mampogoane Petrus Nchabaleng.
The eight candidates had already been interviewed in secret, which prompted objections from the Democratic Alliance, the Institute for Security Studies and the Right to Know Campaign, who unsuccessfully argued that an open selection process was vital for public trust.
Burgess, an ally of President Jacob Zuma, is largely believed to be the front-runner for the position. He was left off the list of MPs to return to Parliament following the 2014 general elections, prompting suspicion that he would be appointed to succeed Faith Radebe, who has held the position of inspector general for intelligence since 2009.
ANA