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- Former spy chief Arthur Fraser wants at least 41 classified intelligence documents to be declassified.
- He says the documents are part of his affidavit to the Zondo commission on state capture.
- The files include one on President Cyril Ramaphosa by the State Security Agency.
Former Director General of the State Security Agency (SSA), Arthur Fraser, has requested the SSA to declassify certain intelligence files, including a copy of a file on President Cyril Ramaphosa.
In a letter addressed to the Acting Director General of the SSA, Loyiso Jafta, Fraser noted that the file contains information on the business, political and personal activities of Ramaphosa and his associates.
In the letter, dated August 5 and leaked this week, Fraser, who has been implicated in irregularities before the state arrest commission of inquiry, asked Jafta to declassify 41 files and files of intelligence information.
“In order to prepare his statement and evidence before the state capture commission, our client instructs us to request, as we do hereby, the declassification of classified documentation and to provide us with copies,” the letter reads, adding that the documents must be delivered no later than August 14.
However, speaking to News24 on Thursday, his attorney, Rapulane Kgoroeadira, said that Fraser has yet to receive any classified or declassified documents from the SSA:
We are aware of having previously indicated to the president that our client is willing and in fact ready to come to Zondo. That still stands. He really wants to help the commission as an official and as a citizen to get to the bottom of the commission’s purpose. We are getting ready to go.
Kgoroeadira added that Fraser’s affidavit to the commission was over 70 pages long and 90% done.
In August, Fraser threatened to reveal to the commission “secrets” that “relate to presidents” and “judges.”
Fraser told the Zondo commission, through his attorneys, that he would be filling in the chart for the commission on state secrets and “on who exactly is subverting our state.”
Fraser was named a spy chief by former President Jacob Zuma in 2016.
It was later removed after investigative journalist Jacques Pauw’s book President’s Guardians, which pointed him out as having run a parallel intelligence network during a previous stint at the spy agency before 2010.
According to the book, an internal SSA investigation concluded that Fraser should be charged with treason for his role in executing the project.
READ | Mr. President, you have been lied to – Arthur Fraser
Fraser reportedly started and oversaw the parallel intelligence network project as deputy director general of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) between 2007 and 2009.
Some of the files that Fraser wants in his arsenal for the Zondo commission relate to projects with ominous names like “Exploit”, “Anaconda” and “Yellow bone.”
Other documents that Fraser wants to declassify include a copy of the outcome of an investigation into the removal of intelligence inspector general Setlhomamaru Dintwe’s security clearance, as well as a copy of the full dossier on the 2017-18 investigation and Fraser’s decision. to revoke your security authorization.
During Fraser’s tenure in the SSA, the two men disagreed. Fraser accused Dintwe of leaking classified information, while Dintwe accused Fraser of interfering with his duties while investigating a complaint made against Fraser in his capacity as SSA director general. Dintwe had been investigating Fraser following a formal complaint filed by the district attorney about alleged involvement in a parallel intelligence network. According to Dintwe’s 2018 affidavit, it is alleged that Fraser fraudulently copied the signature of then-intelligence minister Ronnie Kasrils between 2007 and 2008, while establishing the illegal intelligence program. Family members and others, via the parallel intelligence network, Dintwe said Fraser had known he was the subject of an investigation since May 2017.
READ MORE | State capture: former spy chief Arthur Fraser to reveal ‘secrets’ related to ‘presidents’, lawyer says
Since then, Fraser has also requested from Jafta copies of Kasrils authorizations for the NIA Principal Agent Network (PAN), as well as copies of all the presentations made by the different directorates general of the program and the minutes of all meetings. and workshops where these presentations were made.
The SSA high-level review panel report described the PAN, which was dissolved in 2011, as “evolved” into a way in which employees could “circumvent the process of hiring, disbursing funds and acquisitions.” .
Pauw described it as “a separate, parallel intelligence network that operated independently of the NIA.” The author also described the unit as a “black hole” into which hundreds of millions of rand were poured, with a return on public investment close to zero. The allegations brought before the SSA’s high-level review panel on the PAN were “disturbing,” according to the report. “It appeared to the panel that there had been cases of serious criminal conduct that had been carried out under the pretext of performing undercover work and that this behavior may have involved theft, forgery and profusion, fraud, corruption and even bordered on transgressions to the Organized Crime Prevention Law ”, according to the SSA report.
It is unclear why Fraser wants the intelligence file on Ramaphosa declassified. Ramaphosa appointed him director general of correctional services in 2018.
News24 previously reported that private and “secure” emails from Ramaphosa’s 2017 ANC presidential campaign from the server, alexio.online, were delivered to publication last year.
These emails, between Ramaphosa and some of his top advisers, provide insight into the operations of the Presidency in the first months after he took office in February 2018.
EXPLAINED | Why You Should Be Concerned About President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Email Leaks
Topics covered in the latest emails range from the dispute over arranging meetings with foreign diplomats, Ramaphosa’s relationship with high-profile South African businessmen, and even an unfiltered look at what the president privately prioritized as his most important tasks. in the first months of his mandate. presidency, and some pretty candid comments that could be embarrassing.
Public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane relied on the emails in her report. They revealed a direct contradiction with the constant and public denials of knowing who their sponsors were. In court documents, Ramaphosa has accused Mkhwebane of obtaining the emails illegally and regretted that she never gave him the opportunity to address the content of the emails. .
