Zuma says SSA report was written by 'apartheid spies'

Former president Jacob Zuma has taken to Twitter to seemingly rubbish the panel that compiled a report which revealed that during his presidency elements of the State Security Agency (SSA) were re-purposed and used to fight factional ANC political battles.

The high-level panel review report was published by President Cyril Ramaphosa's office on Saturday afternoon, found that Zuma oversaw the creation of parallel structures within the intelligence service to serve his personal and factional ANC party political interests, breaching the Constitution in the process.

Zuma tweeted that he had never been asked questions by this committee and that the committee has two well-known apartheid spies.

"I've never sold out nor written letters to the SB. I feel nothing when Apartheid spies call me corrupt. I hope people are not opening a can of worms which they might regret," Zuma said in the tweet.

According to the findings, the SSA was not only re-purposed to serve Zuma's interests but was created irregularly in terms of the Constitution, which requires intelligence structures to be set up through legislative changes and not presidential proclamations.

READ: Spy Wars – Report reveals how Zuma's man at SSA helped build parallel network

By amalgamating the National Intelligence Agency and South African Secret Service, Zuma also effectively decimated the efficient functioning of their successor, the SSA.

The report also found that under Zuma, the SSA spied on unions and civil society organisations such as Right2Know and the Council for the Advancement of the South African Constitution (Casac). It also influenced the media, established fake unions in Marikana, abused funds and conducted illegal intelligence gathering operations.

Former state security ministers Siyabonga Cwele as well as David Mahlobo and the former head of special operations at the SSA, Thulani Dlomo, were complicit in what the panel describes as “executive overspill in the last decade or so”.

READ MORE: Zuma manipulated intelligence agency, finds shocking report

The report also mentions the Gupta family, who top SSA investigators had warned Cwele in 2011 posed a serious threat to national security due to their relationship with Zuma. Their warnings were ignored and instead, both were axed.

The report does not name Zuma, Cwele, Mahlobo or Dlomo. However, it mentions the positions held by the men and by cross-referencing the timing of events, News24 was able to verify the identity of the individuals mentioned.

Also READ: Spy Wars – How Jacob Zuma established his own network of spooks