We may never know the reason for the sudden resignation of State Security Agency (SSA) director-general Thembisile Cheryl Majola this week, after just 18 months in the top job.
That is the nature of state security. Most of it is done in the dark, behind the scenes and far from the prying eyes of the public.
We understand that. It is the nature of such organisations across the globe.
But Majola’s sudden departure raises speculation. And that speculation is fuelled by the controversies and challenges that have characterised general crime intelligence in South Africa for several years, dating back to the shenanigans of former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, who served jail time for kidnapping, intimidation and assault.
More recently, the cracks of instability have widened. The failures of our intelligence teams are often top of the news agenda.
More than two years after the July 2021 riots in KwaZulu-Natal left 354 people dead, we still do not know who the masterminds behind this unrest were. And when the US embassy sounded the alarm over an imminent terror attack planned for Sandton City in October last year, SA’s leaders were silent, which caused much speculation. There is also no clarity on who was behind the organised spate of attacks on trucks earlier this year, which seemed to catch authorities off guard.
Crime is a scourge that is killing our country, chasing away investment and bankrupting businesses. If South Africa has any hope of turning the corner, it needs a clear strategy and good, solid intelligence.
Police have also made little headway in organised crimes. The so-called construction mafia is booming. AKA’s killers still walk free and though the hit men in the assassination of whistle-blower Babita Deokaran are in court, those who hired them have yet to be identified. There are many more similar examples in which crime intelligence has not produced the results needed for justice to be seen to be done. Recent advances in stemming cash in transit heists are linked more to police fire power than to any sort of intel.
In September, police minister Bheki Cele said crime intelligence was improving under the new leadership of Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, prompting independent experts to question why the reforming of the unit had been “veiled in secrecy”.
Crime is a scourge that is killing our country, chasing away investment and bankrupting businesses. If South Africa has any hope of turning the corner, it needs a clear strategy and good, solid intelligence. State security is at the very centre of our war on crime. Yet its leaders come and go — by “mutual agreement” — with alarming regularity. This does not help to ensure steadiness and strength.
Countries that are resolute on the safety and security of their citizens take intelligence very seriously — it is a critical cog in the wheel of a functioning state. The nature of its work is that the general population never get to hear much about it, but people want to feel safe.
So in South Africa, the less our leaders say, the more suspicion they arouse. If Majola’s exit is for innocent, simple reasons, why not say so? And if it is tainted, all the more reason to say so. Keeping quiet only adds fuel to the flames of speculation.
But our government leaders lack the stomach for hard, brutal transparency. They seem more interested in playing palace politics than charting a strategic direction of the country.
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