Dr S Cwele, on the occasion of the Intelligence Services Day

Welcoming remarks by Minister of State Security, Dr S Cwele, on the occasion of the Intelligence Services Day, Musanda

3 November 2009

Ministers and Members of Cabinet present
Deputy Ministers
Chairperson of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Intelligence
Members of Parliament and Standing Committee
Inspector-General of Intelligence
Director-General, State Security Agency
Top management of the community
Head of defence and crime intelligence
Our esteemed guests
Veterans of intelligence
Members, ladies and gentlemen

Allow me to welcome you on this occasion, our day of the Intelligence Services.

We also welcome you to this unfamiliar place to visit, the Headquarters of Intelligence, Musanda.

Musanda is a palace or a chief’s kraal in tshiVenda.

Welcome especially our former Directors-General and the Deputy Directors-General.

You do not need an induction and some little bit of sightseeing, you are well conversant with the place.

But, because you no longer belong here, we request that you do not move unless escorted, you move on instruction.

We are delighted to have your presence on this day.

The Intelligence Services Day, like the celebrated days in religion or any culture, is our celebration day as a community.

It was conceived in 2002 as a way of honouring and rewarding the officers who serve the nation in silence.

It is a token of appreciation from us towards them because they are never celebrated, either shown in pictures in the newspaper or on television.

They miss the essential aspect of human consciousness acknowledgement. We acknowledge their presence, service and the drive to be selfless patriot.

It is also a day in which we pay homage to those who went out of energy (retired) or went silent cold (passed on) that their work and lives would remain celebrated in the life of our democracy.

We remember their heroism and bravery and what they have done in the quest to defend our Constitutionalism and secure our nation.

The nation values their deeds, they are our eternal celebrities and we do this by unveiling their names on the wall of remembrance.

We reward loyalty to the Constitution, integrity and diligent practice in the production of intelligence.

We give medals to those who displayed extraordinaire in the duty to detect threats and secure our nation.

We give opportunity to the officers to celebrate with their families and show them what keeps them away from home.

More than that we renew our oath to the state and pledge our loyalty to the national symbols and commit to defend the sovereignty of our people.

We have different categories of medals that are awarded to members of the community to recognise their contribution and those that are awarded to the friends of the intelligence community.

We too realise that, whilst working in silence, we need friends to support and partner us to achieve our objectives.

In building an everlasting friendship and securing the undivided support, we reward those who display their passion to intelligence and the desire to see the community succeeding.

We mark this day this year, whilst on the verge of significant structural change in the community.

These changes are necessitated by the changing external environment.

There has been a change in government and its priorities, shrinking in global financial resources, the warming of relations between the erstwhile enemies (China – United States), heightened competition for scarce resources, spread of fatal disease posing danger to humanity, criminal activity and terrorism being fashionable and the continuing depletion of the ozone layer.

We need to be geared to respond to these challenges.

The critical question has always been ‘are we sufficiently empowered and resourced to tackle this ever changing global dynamics’.

We have already started reorganising ourselves. In this, we have received support from our colleagues in the Police, Defence and Military Veterans working with the Departments of Public Service and Administration and Finance.

We are currently in the interim phase which runs from October 2009 to March 2010. This involves the establishment of the State Security Agency as a national department.

We have converted the National Intelligence Agency, the South African Secret Services, the South African National Academy of Intelligence, the Electronic Communications Security (Pty) Ltd into government components listed in schedule 3 of the Public Service Act.

The final phase will be realised by April 2010. This will involve the incorporation of government components as branches into the State Security Agency.

To succeed in this, we need the support and partnership of all of us.

Your presence today gives us hope that we are not alone, but with you.

We are confident that you will lend your hand and support in renewing our community and building a highly professional cadreship in the service of our people.

Once again, you are welcome to Musanda; we wish to take care of you whilst around here.

Thank you

Issued by: Ministry of State Security
3 November 2009
Source: National Intelligence Agency (http://www.nia.gov.za/)