The Intelligence Services Act (also ''National Strategic Intelligence Act'') was

legislation Legislation is the process or result of enrolled bill, enrolling, enactment of a bill, enacting, or promulgation, promulgating laws by a legislature, parliament, or analogous Government, governing body. Before an item of legislation becomes law i ...

revamping the

intelligence agencies An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informatio ...

of the Republic of

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, passed by the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

on 2 December 1994.South Africa intelligence profile
/ref> The legislation established new intelligence agencies, dismantling those used to enforced the

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime. New institutions were established under a system designed to respect and protect civil liberties, promote transparency and de-politicize South Africa's security agencies.

History

During the decades of Apartheid regime, South Africa's security and intelligence agencies were used to conduct surveillance, infiltration and intelligence activities against civil rights organizations such as the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

, African politicians, militants and armed groups in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

and

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

(now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

).Intelligence Services Control Act PDF
/ref> The

Bureau of State Security The Bureau for State Security ( af, Buro vir Staatsveiligheid; also known as the Bureau of State Security (BOSS)) was the main South African state intelligence agency from 1969 to 1980. A high-budget and secretive institution, it reported directly ...

(BOSS) and its successor, the National Intelligence Service were condemned for suppressing civil rights activities and organizations by harsh methods and had a notorious reputation for racism. The Intelligence Services Act was passed by the post-Apartheid democratic government to reform South Africa's security organizations.

Provisions

The new laws were developed under the framework of the new

Constitution of South Africa The Constitution of South Africa is the supreme law of the Republic of South Africa. It provides the legal foundation for the existence of the republic, it sets out the rights and duties of its citizens, and defines the structure of the Govern ...

, with greater emphasis on civil liberties, rule of law and control of abuse of authority. Intelligence agencies would be subservient to the democratic, civilian government and responsible to parliamentary oversight. The agencies would be required to work within the law, be politically neutral and enforce an ethics code. The National Intelligence Service (NIS) was dismantled, with the responsibilities of non-military

foreign intelligence Intelligence assessment, or simply intel, is the development of behavior forecasts or recommended courses of action to the leadership of an organisation, based on wide ranges of available overt and covert information (intelligence). Assessments d ...

and

counterintelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, assassinations or ot ...

operations shifting to the newly created

South African Secret Service The South African Secret Service (SASS) was the previous name of a South African intelligence agency. Currently, it is known as the Foreign Branch of the State Security Agency. It is responsible for all non-military foreign intelligence and fo ...

.Full text
/ref> The National Intelligence Agency was created for domestic intelligence and internal security operations. The Crime Intelligence department of the

South African Police Service The South African Police Service (SAPS) is the national police force of the Republic of South Africa. Its 1,154 police stations in South Africa are divided according to the provincial borders, and a Provincial Commissioner is appointed in eac ...

was created to combat organized crime and

trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

. The

Ministry of Intelligence Services The Ministry of Intelligence ( he, משרד המודיעין ''Misrad HaModi'in'') is a government ministry in Israel. It oversees policies related to the operation of the intelligence organizations, the Mossad and the Shabak (Israel Security A ...

was created in 1996 to regulate and oversee South Africa's intelligence agencies, bolstering co-operation between intelligence agencies. Much of the provisions reformed the administration, pay structure, functioning and operational methodology of intelligence and security services that would involve law enforcement, rights of the citizens and special permissions required for actions concerning national security.

Implementation

Two subsequent amendments were passed – the Security Officers Amendment Act (1996) and the Amendment to the National Strategic Intelligence Act (1998). The National Strategic Intelligence Act incorporated regulations to make distinct "internal" military intelligence from "foreign" military intelligence, with new bodies governing the intelligence agencies and operations. However, South African government authorities have faced numerous challenges in undertaking a smooth transition for national security and intelligence, with remnants of the Apartheid-era regime being difficult to police and control and efficient staff and operatives being difficult to train and replace, affecting the quality of intelligence gathering.

References

{{reflist South African intelligence agencies South African legislation 1994 in South African law