Ramaphosa’s security crisis

JOHANNESBURG–A major shakeup of the country’s security cluster including the axing of ministers is on the cards after last week’s riots that cost 330 lives and R50 billion in damage to property and infrastructure.

This follows the government’s lack of preparedness for the violence and looting that erupted in KwaZulu- Natal and Gauteng after Jacob Zuma was jailed.

Changes

Top government inside rs told the Sunday Times t hat President Cyril Ramaphosa has spoken to ministers about possible changes in his executive after this week’s embarrassment where ministers contradicted one another in public and claims that some were not given crucial information.

The Sunday Times has also seen a document presented by the State Security Agency ( SSA) to the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure ( Natjoints) on July 3, a week before the attacks. Dated June 29 and titled, ‘ Threat Assessment Input’, the document indicates that by then, the government had threadbare information, much of it from social media.

Senior government security insiders criticised the quality of the information, saying there was no indication that intelligence operatives from the SSA or the police’s crime intelligence were infiltrating or monitoring groups fomenting violence.

“There was no proper co- ordination, even at the level of Natjoints, because SSA was supposed to brief Natjoints so that it could generate some sort of operation and ( plan) what was to be done,” said senior official.

Sloppiness

The SS A’s sloppiness was also blamed on allegations, denied by State Security Minister Ayanda Dlodlo, that there remain senior officials in the agency still loyal to Zuma and his allies.

“Agents on the ground produce quality reports. But by the time the reports reach the minister it is soiled,” said one official.

Insider ssaidt hey expected the president to wield the axe this week. Ramaphosa has been under pressure to reshuffle his Cabinet, but in three years has not rushed any changes.

This week, tensions between Dlodl o and police Minister Bheki Cele mounted into open hostility aimd the fallout from the intelligence failures.

Government insiders said the SSA had since uncovered information that implicated senior politicians, wealthy businesspeople and ordinary ANC members in fomenting last week’s violence.

Assumption

An official said their assumption was that the fightback was going to be in political structures.

“There were just rum ours… and they were making threats in Nkandl a. We thought they were going to approach the matter differently and take the fight to the NEC ( ANC’s national executive committee). The information came after the fact,” said another senior official.

The Sunday Times understands that the spa t between Cele an dD lod lo continued at a meeting on Fri day. Cele again accused her of not sharing intelligence. Cele allegedly sought to clear his name, saying the police could not have prevented the riots without warning from the SSA.