Mum’s the word from State Security Agency

THE PARLIAMENTARY doors appear to be closing on public responses from the State Security Agency (SSA) on a series of recent embarrassments – from the State of the Nation address signal jamming, the Spy Cables and the probe into a discredited blog’s espionage claims.

This emerged yesterday when Deputy Speaker Lechesa Tsenoli declined a DA request for urgent oral questions to State Security Minister David Mahlobo on the SSA’s decision to investigate a politician, an ex-politician, a trade union leader and the public protector following allegations made by africaninteligenceleaks (sic).

Days earlier, Speaker Baleka Mbete declined an earlier DA request for snap debate on Spy Cables, a series of SSA documents from 2006 to 2013 leaked to Al Jazeera and The Guardian, in terms of parliamentary rules which allow such debates on matters of national importance.

Both presiding officers instead cited Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence as the appropriate forum to tackle these matters.

In response to DA written parliamentary questions on the signal jamming, Mahlobo yesterday reiterated what he said in an earlier media statement last month: the State of the Nation address was rated “major” on the back of intelligence and “maximum security” had to be effected as all spheres of government were present and two former heads of state were among the guests.

“As a matter of policy and practice, we do not disclose security assessment reports,” Mahlobo told DA MP Dirk Stubbe.

Regarding the official admission a jammer was placed in the Chamber, Mahlobo reiterated the jammer was part of the no-fly zone over Parliament, in an effort to stave off drones and “to neutralise explosive devices which can be activated by the use of radio signal”.