Apartheid spies sought to undermine state – Fraser claim

Former spy boss Arthur Fraser claims former apartheid spies incorporated into post-1994 intelligence structures sold fake information to ANC politicians, including former Presidents, to sow division in the state. A Sunday Times report says the claim is contained in Fraser's 78-page response to the damning findings of the high-level review panel on the State Security Agency (SSA), led by former Minister and academic Sydney Mufamadi. The panel found that during Jacob Zuma's presidency, when Fraser headed the agency, it was used to fight factional battles and illegally spy on Zuma's political opponents. It also tore into the Principal Agent Network (PAN), a covert operation started by Fraser that was allegedly a front for the former spy chief's family members and close associates, among others, to loot millions of rands in state resources. In April last year, two months after taking office, President Cyril Ramaphosa moved Fraser from his position as DG of the SSA to the same post in The Department Of Correctional Services.

Responding to Mufamadi's findings, Fraser claims to have intercepted plans by former spies, working with other apartheid operatives engaged in private intelligence work and foreign spies, to undermine the ANC and the post-apartheid government. He says the plotters concocted imaginary threats and risks, then suggested solutions on how to curb them, for a fee. The individuals involved are said to have included former members of the special branch, the National Intelligence Service, the military and police intelligence, notes the Sunday Times report.  ‘As they had access to public officials, their modus operandi was to create a need for their services by, among others, producing and then releasing information about this or the other threat, or risk,’ Fraser writes. ‘Thereafter they would approach the relevant mandated public institution, or department, or Ministry, and propose a solution to the threat or risk, at the same time indicating their capacity to assist in the provision of the solution etcetera at a cost as they charge for their services. According to Fraser, the fake ‘intelligence’ that emanated from these information peddlers included:

* A report by former defence chief General Georg Meiring in the 1990s that warned of a plot to overthrow then-President Nelson Mandela.

* A report that surfaced from James Nkambule in the early 2000s, alleging a plot by Ramaphosa (then in business) and struggle heavyweights Mathews Phosa and Tokyo Sexwale to overthrow then-President Thabo Mbeki.

* A report by rogue spy Bheki Jacobs that alleged that Zuma, then Deputy President of SA, was working with apartheid-era agents to overthrow Mbeki.