Civil society organisations Right2Know (R2K) and Greenpeace Africa have approached the State Capture Commission led by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo to ask for access to documentation regarding abuses of power by the State Security Agency.

In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa publicly released a redacted version of the High-Level Review Panel Report on the State Security Agency which revealed that there was a wide range of ‘rogue’ spying on and in some cases infiltration of civil society organisations, unions, student movements, and journalists.

In a media briefing on Thursday, the organisations called for the Commission to expose those who are implicated.

The organisations want Ramaphosa to provide them with the names of the agents who had infiltrated their organisations and want assurance that the State Security Agency no longer has them under surveillance.

They said their letters to the State also raised broader concerns that, nearly two years later, not a single person had been held accountable for the creation of a parallel structure within the State Security Agency, as well as the rampant looting and malfeasance that occurred for political reasons. 

“The years of impunity in South Africa’s intelligence structures must come to an end. R2K and other organisations made a range of complaints to the Inspector-General of Intelligence about alleged monitoring and targeting of civil society organisations and journalists by government spies. These complaints have sat for years without being finalised. We believe that President Ramaphosa must implement all of the recommendations of the High-Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency,” they stressed.

Other organisations joining in the requests are Amabhungane, and Abahlali baseMjondolo.

Civil society organisations say they will provide evidence to support information tabled by the chairperson of the High-Level Panel Review on the State Security Agency, Dr Sydney Mufamadi, and another witness identified as “Miss K”, who testified at the State Capture Commission of Inquiry in January.

The organisations are also demanding to know whether the people implicated in both Mufamadi and Miss K’s testimony are expected to testify at the Commission.

Greenpeace interim programme director Melita Steele stressed that her organisation was committed to social environmental justice, adding that Greenpeace deeply condemned attempts being made to undermine civil society work.

“… not only were NGO’s spied upon and infiltrated but the depth and the extent of the spying has not been disclosed. This means it is impossible to measure the impact that this may have had on our operations, which creates an atmosphere of uncertainty that seriously undermines our work,” she expressed. 

She warned that when rouge spying by the State was normalised the space for civil society to act became smaller, while at the same time the State capacity to get away with illegal and unethical actions expanded.

Steel added that in reality rouge spying was not just an abusive power, but it also threatened the safety and freedom towards the fight for social environmental justice and ultimately threatened the foundation of the country’s democracy. 

Abahlali baseMjondolo deputy president Mqapheli Bonono said his organisation was happy that civil society was standing up for justice.

He said since the establishment of his organisation in 2005 it had experienced oppression.

“We are in democratic country but we think and believe that we should be taken seriously as a civic society and that we must not be intimidated when we fight for our rights. We salute and support the initiative taken by Right2Know and Greenpeace Africa to demand answers at the Zondo Commission,” stated Bonono.

He said his organisation had lost more than 18 members in the line of duty and that justice had been served on only two murders. He questioned why the State was not taking their cases seriously.

“Civil society is in danger. We are aware that activists are being killed in South Africa but we don’t get answers,” he said.

He said the Zondo Commission must not be a talk show.