Beware of today’s political Trojan horses

OCTOBER 15 every year marks a sad day in the area I had the honour of growing up in. Athlone, like many other areas across the Cape Flats, often served as the battleground between the apartheid security police and young people. In 1985, October 15 marked the day when members of the security and railway police co-operated to crush protests in the area.

An SA Railways truck was camouflaged with crates to hide policemen. The truck drove down Thornton Road to the centre of the protesters. The police, hiding behind the crates, sprang up and opened fire on the young people. Jonathan Claasen, 21, Shaun Magmoed, 15, and Michael Miranda, 11, were killed in the prime of their lives, while several others were injured. The tragedy became known as the Trojan Horse Massacre.

Today, however, we have a new kind of Trojan horse: those purporting to present an objective view when in actual fact they are perpetuating a particularly destructive narrative.

Take, for example, the response by Adriaan Basson (“Mr President, intelligence cannot afford another rogue minister”) and the Daily Maverick (“SSA rogue actors constitute clear and present danger to our democracy”) on the alleged disagreements between State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo, and the head of domestic intelligence in the SSA (State Security Agency), advocate Mahlodi Muofhe.

Basson commences his piece by suggesting that, “President Ramaphosa’s efforts to rid our intelligence agencies of rogues, crooks and political interference are threatened .... ”

He says he was “puzzled” by Dlodlo’s appointment because she was “a close confidante of former president Jacob Zuma, with solid Umkhonto we Sizwe credentials”. Pravin Gordhan, Trevor Manuel and Senzo Mchunu are all former confidantes of Zuma. Even more so, is there something wrong with having MK credentials? No doubt, to this Trojan horse, yes!

Basson offers no evidence for stating that she is “pushing for her own allies to be appointed”. He declares that acting DG of the SSA, Loyiso Jafta, was “brought in” by Ramaphosa. This is not true. He was DDG to the former director-general and appointed to that post by Zuma’s Cabinet.

The real evidence is that before Muofhe was appointed as an adviser to former state security minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, he had no experience in intelligence.

It then logically follows that one can understand why Dlodlo is irritated by the quality of intelligence reports, especially from the domestic branch and in respect of the xenophobic attacks that happened earlier in the year. According to the City Press, Dlodlo communicated to Muofhe that she had “.... received few reports outlining what has actually transpired and (that is) not assisting government in making sound policy decisions .... ”

Dodlo, it would seem, is demanding from the domestic branch of the SSA precisely what they cannot deliver. In particular, its head, Muofhe, has not been able to provide quality intelligence for sound policy-making, and neither has he been able to detect threats to security. This is because he has no intelligence background.

Instead, what our Trojan horses are doing is to paint Dlodlo as the villain. A hard worker in every portfolio she has held thus far, Dlodlo has an impeccable record of not being factional, which is rare these days, but simply demands that those deployed to do what they are being paid to do, simply do it. President Ramaphosa will do well to see these Trojan horses for what they truly are.