Parliament to vote on intelligence inspector general post

Parliament will on Wednesday will vote on filling the post of South Africa’s inspector general of intelligence, which has been vacant since April last year when Faith Radebe’s term of office ended.

Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence (JSCI) report recommended ANC MP Cecil Burgess, who is the former head of the intelligence committee who championed the so-called Secrecy Bill, be appointed.

Opposition parties have fiercely objected to his candidacy. 

In order for it to pass through the National Assembly, two thirds majority must vote in favour of the report.

The ruling party has 249 MPs in the National Assembly, and 267 are needed to carry the vote.


Finalise process
Last year, the report lapsed when former ANC chief whip, Stone Sizani, deferred the matter to a later stage, due to an apparent lack of support for Burgess’ appointment.

National Assembly speaker, Baleka Mbete, this week urged parties to ensure the process was finalised. Lobby group Right2Know on Tuesday reiterated their opposition to Burgess’s appointment.

“We demand an inspector general who will protect citizens from abuses of the spies. We demand someone who is fearless, independent and transparent. We will accept no less,” the group said.

The DA this week said they would not back Burgess in Parliament. “Burgess simply cannot be trusted with the transparency and accountability of our country’s crime intelligence, defence intelligence and other state security apparatuses  which have already been abused for political purposes both inside and outside of the ANC,” the party said.