Popcru calls for action against those implicated in SSA scandals

Former minister of state security David Mahlobo File picture: African News Agency (ANA)

Former minister of state security David Mahlobo File picture: African News Agency (ANA)

Published Feb 4, 2021

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Johannesburg - Police union Popcru has called for action against those implicated in the abuse of the State Security Agency and its resources for political and self-enrichment purposes.

The union held a briefing on Thursday on the state of the security cluster in Johannesburg.

Popcru first deputy secretary Rankele Msinto said the recent revelations at the Zondo commission had shown that the intelligence agency and ministry had been corrupted, which the country did not need.

“We are concerned that state resources were exploited for nefarious projects to enrich individuals, their acolytes, and to pay bribes to party factions. Such acts are part and parcel of eroding the confidence people should have in their government, and it can never be termed radical economic transformation, but simply theft for personal gain at the largest possible scale” Msinto said.

The Zondo commission has heard how millions of rand were allegedly looted and channelled monthly through former SSA minister David Mahlobo for the upkeep of former president Jacob Zuma.

The commission also heard how the SSA was allegedly used to infiltrate the media, the judiciary and counter Zuma’s opponents within and outside the ANC.

The explosive revelations were divulged by former chairperson of the High-Level Review Panel into the State Security Agency (SSA) Sydney Mufamadi, acting director-general Loyiso Jafta and other spooks who gave evidence before the commission but whose identity was protected.

Mufamadi’s panel report, which he gave to President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018, detailed how the SSA’s special operations unit became a law unto itself and engaged on various projects that were illegal to advance Zuma’s political interests.

Msinto added it was clear that the SSA had become an instrument of political partisanship and enrichment, while it failed on its mandate of protecting South Africans.

“The current SSA scandal is far darker and heinous, and those suspected of facilitating these deeds, should be held accountable,” he said.

He further maintained it was the union’s view that “our state security agency has dismally failed South Africans as there is no evidence that it has undertaken a significant course of corrections with regard to the different criminal activities that it ought to have looked into.”

Political Bureau

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corruption