POLITICS

SSA not vetting journalists in parliament - David Mahlobo

Minister says agency has deployed members to vet all parliament’s support staff however

NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Question No.3787

For Written Reply

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER (INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 42-2015)

QUESTION 3787

Mr J H Steenhusien (DA) to ask the Minister of State Security:

Whether his department has (a) state security agents and/or (b) any other departmental staff stationed in Parliament; is so, in each specified case, (i) (aa) for how long has the specified persons been stationed in Parliament and (bb) when is their deployment period expected to end, (ii) under whose instruction and/or request were such persons deployed and (iii) for what purpose were they deployed

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REPLY:

(a)&(b) The State Security Agency (SSA) has deployed its staff members from the Chief Directorate External Vetting and Advising to be stationed at Parliament to conduct vetting of Parliamentary support staff.

(i)(aa) The specified SSA staff has been stationed in Parliament since September 2015.

(bb) The SSA is expected to complete the vetting project in March 2016.

(ii) The SSA was requested by Mr.Gengezi Mgidlana, the Secretary to Parliament.

(iii) The Secretary to Parliament requested the SSA to conduct security vetting to all Parliamentary support staff.

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Question No.3789

For Written Reply

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER (INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 42-2015)

QUESTION 3789

Mr J H Steenhusien (DA) to ask the Minister of State Security:

Whether, his department conducted any (a) security or (b) qualifications vetting process in respect of any member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery during the Fifth Parliament; if so, in  the case of each person belonging to the specific group, (i) what were the reasons for the vetting, (ii) on  how many such occasions has the specified vetting process taken place (iii) at whose request was the specified vetting done and (iv) what is the intended outcome of the specified vetting process.

REPLY:

The State Security Agency has never conducted any security vetting process in respect of any member of the Parliamentary Press Gallery during the Fifth Parliament.

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NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

Question No.3791

For Written Reply

DATE OF PUBLICATION IN THE INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER (INTERNAL QUESTION PAPER NO. 42-2015)

QUESTION 3791

Mr J H Steenhusien (DA) to ask the Minister of State Security:

Whether his department conducted a security vetting process in respect of any member of Parliament during the Fifth Parliament; if so, in respect of each specified Member of Parliament, (a) what were the reasons for the security vetting, (b) on how many occasions did his department do the security vetting process and (c) at whose request was the security vetting done?

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REPLY:

(a) Members of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) are expected to undergo the security vetting process in order to have Top Secret security clearance.

(b) The State Security Agency has conducted vetting of the JSCI members twice. The security vetting process is conducted after every five years when the Top Secret security clearance has lapsed.

(c) The State Security Agency received a request from the Chairperson of the JSCI.

Issued by Parliament, 2 November 2015