The DA did not receive classified information from the Inspector-General of Intelligence

16 April 2018

The Democratic Alliance rejects allegations that it received classified information from the Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI), Dr Setlhomamaru Dintwe. The DA has at all times acted lawfully when providing information to Dr Dintwe as part of its complaints against Arthur Fraser, the Director-General of the State Security Agency (SSA).

It is public knowledge that on 18 May 2017 the DA lodged a formal complaint with the Office of the Inspector-General of Intelliegence in terms of section 7(cA) of the Intelligence Services Oversight Act (40 of 1994). In this complaint, the DA requested an investigation into Fraser’s involvement with the Principle Agent Network (PAN) programme which he, as the former Deputy Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, initiated and oversaw from 2007 to 2009.

It is similarly public knowledge that in September of 2017, the DA also requested that the IGI expand the scope of his investigation to also probe allegations of Fraser’s potential involvement in a covert unit operating within the SSA targeting political opponents of former President Jacob Zuma in addition to the initial complaint.

The information at the DA’s disposal which formed the basis of the complaints lodged with the IGI in no way arose from the contents of Jacques Pauw’s book, The President’s Keepers, which was only published in October 2017.

In fact, when the allegations contained in Pauw’s book came to light, the DA again wrote to the IGI in November 2017 requesting a meeting with Dr Dintwe in order to be provided with an update on the progress of the investigations into Fraser’s ostensibly criminal conduct.

The DA has already formally written to President Cyril Ramaphosa requesting that he place Fraser on suspension pending the conclusion of the investigation into the serious allegations levelled against him.

We now call on President Ramaphosa and the Minister of State Security, Ms Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba, to also revoke Fraser's security clearance as a matter of urgency.

Fraser’s attempts to frustrate the investigation into his ostensibly criminal conduct by intimidation and diversion are nothing more than desperate attempts to avoid scrutiny at all costs. It is a clear conflict of interest for Fraser to be allowed to frustrate the IGI’s investigation into him. President Ramaphosa and Minister Letsatsi-Duba must act quickly to protect our national security.

Issued by John Steenhuisen, Chief Whip of the Democratic Alliance, 16 April 2018