The Star Late Edition

Ramaphosa warned: get SA’s security forces fixed

PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa has been forewarned that the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) report into the July 2021 unrest should be a major red flag for him to bulk up the country’s defences and stop micromanag­ing state security matters.

During the release of the report on Monday, SAHRC Commission­er Philile Ntuli said the destructio­n witnessed during the July 2021 unrest was symptomati­c of unresolved systemic conditions such as post-Covid-19 economic recovery, high unemployme­nt, lawlessnes­s, discrimina­tion, socio-economic divides, and issues within the security sector.

The commission had concluded that organised groups and individual­s opportunis­tically exploited these conditions to attempt to usurp the rule of law, she said.

Seasoned forensic investigat­or, Calvin Rafadi said problems arose after Ramaphosa decided, immediatel­y after his inaugurati­on, to take state security into his own hands, reporting directly to the Presidency at the Union Buildings.

Rafadi said despite this initiative, the president had in reality only micro-managed a few members, leaving many capable members of state security vulnerable and disgruntle­d.

“I was not surprised that the July unrest matter was going unresolved because it is those vulnerable and disgruntle­d members who were capable of seeing and countering espionage and providing counter-intelligen­ce.

“They are the only unit that could have overseen the well-planned, orchestrat­ed unrest and detected the main instigator­s.”

The forensic expert said this was because in many instances the real criminals would break open the doors, take what they came for and leave the rest so that the community would enter and contaminat­e the scene – similar to how those involved in cashin-transit heists operated.

Rafadi said the weaknesses in state security could also be evidenced through incidents such as the break-in at the Office of the Chief Justice in Midrand on March 18, 2017. Criminals stole at least 15 computers.

Another incident Rafadi highlighte­d was that of February 2020, when the office of the State Security Agency in Pretoria was also broken into, with criminals getting away with an undisclose­d amount of money in local and foreign currency as well as important documents.

“To this day these break-ins are unresolved, and our mutual agreements with foreign intelligen­ce are also not benefiting us, and in fact put our country in a state of panic by alluding to a terrorist attack in Sandton.

“The truth of the matter is that Ramaphosa must revisit state security issues and stop micromanag­ing.

“Furthermor­e, with more comments about vote rigging in the upcoming elections, I would stress that it is absolutely crucial that the military and state security are brought back up to par,” Rafadi added.

Dianne Kohler-Barnard, a member of the joint standing committee on intelligen­ce, expressed similar sentiments about the report, rightly criticisin­g the state’s response to the unrest, highlighti­ng poor communicat­ion, co-ordination, planning, and high-level management within the security cluster.

“The DA agrees with the report’s emphasis on the urgent need for the security sector, including the State Security Agency, SANDF, and relevant stakeholde­rs, to develop a national security strategy.”

Kohler-Barnard, however, said their biggest concern was that the report had indicated that there was no evidence linking the timing of the events to Zuma’s incarcerat­ion.

This assertion was, according to Kohler-Barnard, rather worrisome as it contradict­ed the experience­s of those who had witnessed the events firsthand.