State Security Agency in spotlight as Sydney Mufamadi testifies before Zondo

The state capture inquiry resumes on Monday, with State Security Agency (SSA) related evidence from the former chairperson of the government's high-level review panel, Sydney Mufamadi.

In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa authorised the publication of the panel's report on the SSA.

The review panel was appointed in June 2018 to assess the structure of the SSA relative to its mandate and inquire into its systems and capacity.

The panel was chaired by Mufamadi and included nine other members with a wide range of senior level experience and expertise in law, security studies, civil society, academia, the intelligence and security community and other arms of government.

A key finding of the panel was that there was “political malpurposing and factionalisation of the intelligence community over the past decade or more that has resulted in an almost complete disregard for the constitution, policy, legislation and other prescripts”.

The team proposed the development of a national security strategy, and mooted the separation of the SSA into two services — a domestic and a foreign service.

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