Outrage over spooks at National Assembly

CAPE TOWN — Allegations of State Security Agency interference in the workings of Parliament were met with outrage yesterday.

Both the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Right2Know Campaign were angered by a Sunday Times report that the State Security Agency was on a drive to root out spies and whistle- blowers from the institution at the instigation of its secretary, Gengezi Mgidlana.

The report comes in the wake of the agency’s deployment of a signal-jamming device in the National Assembly earlier this year during the state of the nation address by President Jacob Zuma, the eviction of Eco- nomic Freedom Fighters MPs from the house and reports that agency officials had been questioning parliamentary staff in a bid to stem perceived leaks.

The newspaper report yesterday said intelligence officers had told parliamentary staff in a series of meetings last week certain nongovernmental organisations such as Right2Know were agents working for foreign governments and that two journalists working in Parliament were spies for France and the US.

The meetings were apparently held to explain the need for staff to be vetted afresh for security clearance purposes. Those with dual citizenship were warned they risked losing their clearance. One source told the

Sunday Times that the State Security Agency was considering security vetting all journalists in the parliamentary press gallery and establishing a review panel for journalists.

DA deputy chief whip Mike Waters said he would request an urgent meeting of the parliamentary oversight authority to discuss the issue.

“(Mr) Mgidlana’s deployment to Parliament has been characterised by an increase in security, oppressive rules, political interference and paranoia across the precinct,” Mr Waters said.

The alleged actions of the State Security Agency, he said, were “simply unacceptable and a gross violation of the separation of powers between Parlia- ment and the executive, and the very democratic tenets of our constitution”.

The Right2Know Campaign also condemned what it said was the latest sign of the securitisation of Parliament. National spokesman Murray Hunter said that the organisation was “outraged, but not surprised, by the paranoia and utter disdain that the securocrats show for ordinary people and their organisations.

In a statement yesterday, Parliament said that “unnecessary sensation” had been created about its routine re-vetting processes, which it said were “a normal and regular practice” in government.

“A vetting programme similar to the current process was undertaken in 2005,” the statement said.