THE ROLE OF THE INTELLIGENCE
Date
2011-05-12
Authors
MABANDLA, THEMBANI
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Abstract
This line of study was prompted by the intelligence services’ role in the aftermath of the wave of
incidents of protest and rioting ostensibly over service delivery, which by this account, began in
Diepsloot in the northwest of Johannesburg, on the 5th of July 2004. The study seeks to explore
the extent to which the charged dissonant involvement of the intelligence services in the wake of
the protests indicated an existing problem with the South African conception of national security.
Underlying this notion is the idea that the theory on security as applied in the South African
context does not do justice to the reality of the needs on the ground.
This research contends that in retrospect the protests in Diepsloot and other areas did not pose a
national security threat in the conventional sense of there being an existential threat posed to the
state. It appears that at the very least, the potential threat of political instability that warranted the
involvement of the intelligence services, required governance-based interventions. With this
borne in mind, this study also seeks to investigate whether there exists a role for the intelligence
services in facilitating governance and contributing to alleviating underdevelopment challenges in
South Africa. This study is therefore about the institutional arrangements that inform how the
intelligence services interact with governance in the service delivery process. Service delivery in
this context is understood both minimally and more elaborately as both the provision of basic
services as well as the larger goal of societal and human development.
Using the case study of Diepsloot, this study will consider whether there is indeed a case to be
made for service delivery failures as the source of these protests with a view to arguing that the
establishment of such a causal link would warrant synonymous governance efficiency-enhancing
interventions from all stakeholders, including the intelligence community. Such an approach
would call for the reassessment of the philosophical tenets informing the South African
understanding of national security, wherein, along with focusing on traditional threats, the
intelligence services seek to be orientated towards facilitating and responding to human
development challenges in the medium to long term.
Description
MM - P&DM
Keywords
Intelligence service, South Africa, Service delivery