Head and shoulders photograph of Cyril Ramaphosa speaking into a microphone. President Cyril Ramaphosa. Picture: REUTERS/Edgar Su
Durban – Imtiaz Fazel, who was nominated to become the inspector general of Intelligence (IGI), will face the challenge of turning around a service which has been heavily criticised in recent years.
The IGI has the power to investigate claims of abuse in the police’s Crime Intelligence unit, the State Security Agency and Military Intelligence.
Fazel served as a deputy director general in the office of the State Security Agency (SSA) in 2013.
The position has been vacant for months after political parties failed to reach an agreement on who to appoint.
Anti-apartheid activist, the Rev Frank Chikane, was nominated in June but his candidacy failed to pass muster at the National Assembly.
The SSA and Crime Intelligence were heavily criticised for being reactive and not proactive before and during last year’s July unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
In March 2019, a high-level review panel chaired by former minister Sydney Mufamadi released its report on the SSA and made a raft of recommendations to deal with rampant malfeasance, fraud, corruption and other misconduct at the SSA.
Parliament and the intelligence services have been criticised for failing to implement these recommendations.
The report of the expert panel appointed to probe the July 2021 unrest was released in February 2022.
The report found that the intelligence services failed to predict the nature, scale and modus operandi of the violence.
KZN-based violence monitor Mary de Haas said that if appointed, Fazel must look at changing legislation as recommended by the high-level review panel’s report on the SSA.
“The July unrest should have never happened if these recommendations were acted on immediately,” said De Haas.
“Legislation needs to be passed and the security services needs to be restored to what it originally was.”
Professor Bheki Mngomezulu, a political analyst, said Fazel needed to return integrity to the security services.
“At the moment it is reactive and not proactive. This is not something that will happen overnight as the dysfunctionality is well entrenched in the system.
“It needs to act in accordance with the law and not for the benefit of certain individuals.”
Political parties supported Fazel’s nomination, saying they believed he would be able to stamp out corruption and the misuse of resources within the intelligence services.
President Cyril Ramaphosa will now be asked to confirm Fazel’s appointment after a vote in the house.
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