New minister talks tough on state security ‘sabotage’
New State Security Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba has promised to crack the whip in the country’s intelligence service to clean up the mess it’s in.
A few days after she was appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa, Letsatsi-Duba said a priority would be to investigate allegations of financial mismanagement and abuse of slush funds by state security officials.
She also intends to conduct a skills audit in the state security department to ensure key positions are occupied by qualified people.
“With the little information we have so far, a clean-up [in the department] is needed in order to reposition the institution to its original status,” she said. “There’s a need for a new broom. This [state security] is a very critical institution … you don’t just gamble with it. It’s very strategic in all respects,” said Letsatsi-Duba.
The former Limpopo health and agriculture MEC and deputy public service minister worked in the ANC intelligence structures during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
She criticised predecessors such as David Mahlobo and Bongani Bongo for failing to ensure that intelligence gathering was done effectively.
“You will wonder why there are so many service delivery protests [in the country]. And you will find out that somewhere in Mahikeng [or any part of the country] there is someone employed but is not doing what they are supposed to do. That’s what we call in military language a sabotage of some kind,” said Letsatsi-Duba.
She intends removing unqualified and corrupt officials from key positions in the state security apparatus and replacing them with capable individuals who will help to restore the integrity of the institution.
“The approach will be to check who is doing what with what skills in the department. After that, we will be able to do an assessment. If there’s a need to bring new expertise into the department, we will do so,” said Letsatsi-Duba.
Born in Katlehong, east of Johannesburg, in 1966, Letsatsi-Duba was 18 when she went into exile in Zambia to join the ANC. After she returned in 1992, she edited the party’s Voice of Women journal and worked at the ANC’s Shell House headquarters.
She also worked closely with Zuma when he was deputy secretary general of the ANC and Ramaphosa was party secretary general, and has chaired Parliament’s portfolio committee on public enterprises.
Last year, Zuma appointed her as deputy public service and administration minister, where she reportedly had a frosty relationship with former minister Faith Muthambi. According to government insiders, this was as a result of Letsatsi-Duba’s disapproval of Zuma’s leadership style. Muthambi was a vocal supporter of the former president.
This week, although some political commentators questioned LetsatsiDuba’s appointment, former spy boss Gibson Njenje said she was the right person for the job.
“It’s a good appointment. She is a steady lady. I know her from exile. She is a good cadre who understands what’s going on in the security space — and she engages,” said Njenje.
Njenje was removed as state security director general in 2013 after he began probing the Gupta family.
He urged the new minister to root out corruption in the department.
“She must close the taps very dry. Those are things that demoralise [good] people who are working there … these negative practices of stealing state money,” said Njenje.
Kenny Mathivha, the spokesperson for Limpopo Premier Stan Mathabatha, described LetsatsiDuba as unassuming. Mathivha worked with her in the Limpopo legislature and was her spokesperson.
“She is very reserved. Even after six months when she was MEC, she looked like any ordinary person. Few people within the department took time to realise she was the MEC. Some people would push her around and she would just smile until someone would say: ‘This is your MEC.’ She would just laugh,” said Mathivha.