Secret State Security Agency unit allegedly ‘spies’ on Zuma’s rivals – report   

A covert unit within the State Security Agency (SSA), tasked with fighting terrorism and organised crime in the country, is allegedly being used to target President Jacob Zuma’s opponents in the ANC ahead of the governing party’s elective conference in December, Mail & Guardian reports.

According to the weekly, government and ANC sources with knowledge of the goings-on in intelligence circles claimed this week that the covert unit – said to be headed by Thulani Dhlomo – was conducting illegal surveillance and intercepting phone calls and emails of ANC politicians, including Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who has been implicated in alleged extramarital affairs with several women through leaked emails.

The ANC presidential hopeful dismissed the allegations levelled against him published by The Sunday Independent as part of a “smear campaign” using state institutions to hack into his private emails. Ramaphosa, however, admitted he had an affair with a Limpopo doctor that had ended eight years ago in an interview with the Sunday Times.

Other senior ANC politicians allegedly being spied on by the covert unit include presidential hopefuls Human Settlement Minister Lindiwe Sisulu, ANC treasurer-general Zweli Mkhize, Minister in the Presidency Jeff Radebe and Higher Education Minister and SACP general-secretary Blade Nzimande.

Intelligence sources, who spoke to M&G on condition of anonymity out of fear of victimisation, alleged the secret unit was no longer gathering intelligence in the interests of the nation, but fighting political battles in the ANC.

One of the explosive claims the sources made was that foreign currency worth R17 million was stolen from the SSA’s headquarters in December 2015. The money was apparently used to fund the illegal intelligence activities conducted by the covert unit.

They also claimed the covert unit reported to State Security Minister David Mahlobo and Zuma. However, the SSA has denied the existence of the unit to M&G, saying the allegations surrounding the unit had already been dispelled.

“The so-called CSU matter is an old matter. In 2014 the [inspector-general] looked into these allegations when Minister [David Mahlobo] referred it to that office after the City Press published the story [about the alleged existence of a covert unit],” SSA spokesperson Brian Dube said.

“The report didn’t find any unlawfulness on the part of SSA. That report was referred to the JSCI [joint standing committee on intelligence],” Dube said. “The new allegations raised by the deputy president must be dealt with as such.”

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