Secret satellite surveillance programme & privacy concerns revealed in new spy cables dump by Al Jazeera
26 February 2015
Last night Al Jazeera's investigative unit released classified documents from within the State Security Agency (SSA) revealing:
Extensive cooperation between Russia and South Africa on a secret satellite surveillance programme; and
Loopholes in the regulation of interception of communication in South Africa.
1. Spy Cable #1: Satellite Surveillance Programme
A South African Secret Service, now State Security Agency (Foreign Branch), "Intelligence Information Report"dated 28 August 2012, which was classified "Top Secret", reveals significant new information on strategic cooperation between Russia and South Africa.
The State Security Agency's top secret intelligence information report reveals for the first time:
That Russia and South Africa were cooperating on a secret satellite surveillance programme , codenamed"Project Condor";
That the satellite surveillance progamme was to be used for strategic military purposes;
That the satellite surveillance programme would eventually culminate in the launch of a satellite by Russia on behalf of South Africa;
That the aim was eventually to integrate the Russian and South African satellite surveillance programmes to provide wider coverage; and
That 30 Russian technicians were working on the satellite surveillance programme in South Africa.
Up until now there has been no information about "Project Condor" in the public domain.
The reference to the launch of a satellite almost certainly refers to Defence Intelligence's R1.4 billion Kondor-E Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite, which was launched on or about 19 December 2014, under the codename"Project Flute".
Bizarrely, the State Security Agency appears to have been collecting intelligence about a satellite surveillance programme being implemented by Defence Intelligence.
We cannot confirm that all the information in the report is accurate but it certainly suggests that cooperation between Russia and South Africa on the satellite surveillance programme appears to have been more advanced, and carried out on a larger scale, than previously thought.
2. Spy Cable #2: Possible Illegal Domestic Surveillance
A South African Secret Service, now State Security Agency (Foreign Branch), policy document, entitled"Technical Intelligence Policy and Procedural Manual", dated 13 June 2006, and classified "confidential", reveals loopholes in the regulation of interception of communication in South Africa.
These loopholes were first identified by the Matthews Commission in 2008, which found that:
"The Director-General of the SASS [South African Secret Service] may approve a deviation from the provisions of the policy if such as deviation is in the best interests of the service.".
Even more worryingly is that the Mathews Commission found that: "the NCC [National Communications Centre] appears to be engaged in signals monitoring that is unlawful and unconstitutional."
What this illustrates is that we urgently need to amend legislation to close the loopholes to ensure that the interception of all communication, including the interception of foreign signals intelligence, is authorised by the designated judge, in terms of the Regulation of Interception of Communication Act (No. 70 of 2002).
We have already done extensive work preparing a Private Members Bill, entitled the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, which is aimed at closing these loopholes. We will introduce it in Parliament at the first available opportunity.
The latest revelations illustrate why the Chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, Connie September, must schedule an urgent briefing by the Minister of State Security, David Mahlobo, on this matter; and prepare a special report, in terms of Section 6 (2) of the Intelligence Oversight Act (No. 40 of 1994), to be tabled in Parliament.
Statement issued by David Maynier, DA Shadow Deputy Minister of State Security, February 26 2015
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