State Security Agency break-in ‘an inside job’

The theft of an undisclosed amount of money and sensitive documents from the State Security Agency (SSA) offices in Pretoria is believed to have been an inside job, according to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) and a private investigator.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the theft took place two weeks ago without any signs of a forced entry, from a building which is equipped with hi-tech security equipment such as CCTV cameras – which were also stolen.

Private investigator and security expert Paul O’Sullivan said he believed many staff members at the agency were part of the state capture project.

“The internal theft at the State Security Agency is a major issue of concern, and I have said before that there are many criminals in the agency that are part of the state capture project – and until you get rid of them, the country won’t function normally,” he said.

A problem was that the security work was contracted to private companies that were using people who were not qualified to do security work, he added.

ALSO READ: Man accused of R17m SSA theft in 2015 summoned back to court

“We are not talking about one or two people, there are many of them who are criminals and on the payroll of government entities such as the police, NPA [National Prosecuting Authority], the Hawks and the State Security Agency,” said O’Sullivan.

Democratic Alliance shadow minister of state security Dianne Kohler Barnard said the party would request an urgent portfolio committee meeting with the Minister of State Security Ayanda Dlodlo to find out how a building, which was supposedly one of the best-secured in the country, was broken into without the SSA’s knowledge.

Most worrying was the fact that not only money was stolen, but also sensitive documents.

“The implications may be political, to protect and/or blackmail political enemies, or may be criminal – evidence against global syndicates, perhaps,” Kohler Barnard said.

This was not the first case of theft at the SSA headquarters. In December 2015 they were robbed of R17 million in foreign currency.

SSA spokesperson Mava Scott confirmed the recent theft and said the case was under investigation.

– gcinan@citizen.co.za

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