TRC Final Report

Volume 2

Chapter 3

Subsection 64

APPENDIX

State Security Forces:Directory of Organisations and Structures

■ JOINT SECURITY STRUCTURES

State Security Council and related structures

1 The State Security Council (SSC) was established by the Security Intelligence and State Security Act, No 64 of 1972. Its functions were "to advise the government with regard to ..the formulation of national policy and strategy in relation to ... security .. and the manner in which such policy or strategy shall be implemented ... [and] to combat any particular threat to the security … [and] to determine intelligence priorities."

2 Prior to the effective functioning of the State Security Council and the National Security Management System, a number of structures and/or initiatives were put in place to develop security policy and to establish greater co-ordination between the various security and intelligence arms. These include the establishment of: a State Security Committee in 1963; an Intelligence Coordinating Committee in 1964; a State Security Advisory Council (SSAC) which replaced the old State Security Committee in 1966; the Bureau of State Security in 1969; the Potgieter Commission in 1969 whose report in 1971/2 led to the establishment of the State Security Council (SSC) in 1972; a Civil Service Commission, the ‘Venter Commission’ in April 1973 which reported in early 1975; a government symposium on security on 21 September 1976 which led to the establishment of the Van Dalsen Committee.

3 The latter two were central in formulating the need for a ‘national security system’ and proposed the establishment of a number of sub-structures: inter-departmental committees; regional and area committees to co-ordinate security actions; a national security staff function in the Office of the Prime Minister; a Working Committee and Secretariat to service the SSC. However, when PW Botha became Prime Minister in September 1978, little progress had been made with the exception of the establishment of fifteen inter-departmental committees and in April 1978 of a Working Committee to support the SSC. Following Botha’s accession to power, the eighteen standing cabinet committees were reduced to five to ensure better management. The five were: Constitutional, Economic, Social, Finance and National Security - or as it became known The State Security Council.

4 The following people formed the core of the SSC: Prime Minister (after 1983 State President); Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Defence, Law and Order, Justice; the Director General of NIS, the Chief of the SADF, the Commissioner of Police, and the Secretaries of Justice and Foreign Affairs. In addition, a number of ministers were co-opted for various periods of time. In the second half of the 1980s, virtually all ministers as well as the Deputy Ministers of Law and Order and Foreign Affairs were drawn into an extended SSC, whose meetings alternated with the ‘core’ SSC. Secretaries of the SSC were all Lt Generals of the SADF and were: AJ van Deventer (1978-1985), PW van der Westhuizen (1985 -1988) , Charles J Lloyd (1988-1990)

5 In the face of rising resistance and apparent inability of the security forces to contain it, the IDC for security was upgraded to a Joint Security Staff (JSS/GVS). The Deputy Minister of Law and Order was relieved of all duties in order to manage the JSS/GVS. Given that membership and functions now overlapped, the NCC was discontinued on 11 August 1986. Following the imposition of a second, this time nation-wide, State of Emergency in June 1986, civilian departments were drawn in and the JSS/GVS was further upgraded to the status of a National JMC (NJMC) in February 1987.

6 Further, in the early days of the emergency, a Ministers Committee (MINCOM) chaired by the State President and comprising eight ministers were charged with the overall function of managing the State of Emergency on the advice of a Committee of Senior Officials chaired by the chairperson of the JSS. These committees ceased to function later as the SSC and the WC themselves began to develop 'dual forms' of functioning.

The Co-ordinating Intelligence Committee (CIC/KIK)

7 On 14 November 1980, PW Botha issued an instruction that intelligence structures should be rationalised and better co-ordinated. A Rationalisation Committee was set up that met from 14-19 January 1981, in a meeting now known as the 'Simonstown Beraad'. On 30 January, PW Botha approved the establishment of a National Intelligence Interpretation Branch (NIIB/TNV) as part of the SSSC as well as the Co-ordinating Intelligence Committee under the chairmanship of NIS. The NIIB officially came into being on 1 January 1982.

8 The Coordinating Intelligence Committee (CIC/KIK) consisted of representatives from all intelligence-gathering structures the Military Intelligence Division of the SADF, the Security Branch of the SAP, the National Intelligence Service and the intelligence component of Foreign Affairs. It was established in 1981 and had several sub-committees including counter-intelligence, technical and covert collection sub-committees. It was under the sub-committee for covert collection that a special counter-revolutionary information task team, TREWITS (Teen Rewolusionere Inligtings Taakspan), was established in late 1986.

9 The KIK was chaired by Dr LD Barnard, Director-General of NIS.