Pretoria - Government has dismissed media reports that the State Security Agency has become an employment department for the children of Ministers and other high-profile officials.
These claims, according to government, are speculative, subjective and far from the truth.
“It is unfair to suggest that the appointments of these children were based on their relations and others, like them, also often fall prey to unfair discrimination by virtue of their relationships with political principals,” Acting Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) CEO, Phumla Williams, said on Tuesday.
These claims, Williams said, create an impression that the children of Ministers and other officials should be exempt from pursuing a career in the public service.
“All citizens have the constitutional right to apply for any employment, as long as they meet the requirements - even if it is within the public service.”
Williams said the intelligence academy has stringent and rigorous recruitment and screening processes that are in place in order to fulfil its mandate of producing quality intelligence training to the members of the intelligence community.
It has the challenging role of producing intelligence officers, who not only understand South Africa's national security paradigm but can also carry out their duties within the values and ethical principles.
Williams said the State Security Agency aims to ensure that all people in South Africa are and feel safe, while “creating a better South Africa and contributing to a better and safer Africa in a better world”.
“As indicated in the department’s budget vote on 23 July, the department has prioritised making intelligence a career of choice for many young South Africans, enhance the output of the academy, and strengthen synergies with other institutions with common interests,” said Williams.
She said the reports are misleading the public and create the impression that most of the students attending the academy are the children of politicians.
“In fact, this faceless report is far from the truth,” said Williams. - SAnews.gov.za
