STATEMENT ON MINISTER RONNIE KASRILS RESIGNATION

I tendered my resignation as Minister for Intelligence Services to President Thabo Mbeki, which he accepted on 23 September 2008. My resignation comes into effect on 25 September and coincides with that of President Mbeki's. It follows from the National Executive Committee of the African National Congress's (ANC's) decision of 20 September 2008 to recall President Mbeki from his post and his subsequent acceptance of their request.

I took the decision to resign primarily because I am of the view that members of Cabinet specifically serve at the pleasure of the President that appointed them. I was appointed as Minister for Intelligence Services by President Mbeki during his term of office and I therefore believe that it is necessary to step aside so as to allow the new President to select his own Cabinet in an unencumbered manner.

In addition, I am resigning from Parliament and therefore have informed the President-elect, Mr Kgalema Motlanthe, that as much as I support and respect him, I am unavailable for reappointment.

In resigning, I do so fully conscious of my responsibilities and duties to our Government, the State, and the people of South Africa. I therefore undertake to co-operate with the incoming Minister and administration in respect of ensuring the necessary smooth handover that is required. In so doing, I have endeavoured to ensure that the morale and discipline of my Ministerial staff and the Civilian Intelligence Services, for which I have been responsible, is upheld.

I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to President Mbeki for his inspired leadership and for the confidence that he placed in me by appointing me to Ministerial positions during his two terms of office.

I want to thank the heads of the services and all their members for the support that they provided me in fulfilling my Ministerial responsibilities, which I carried out to the best of my ability, in accordance with the Constitution and my oath of office. I wish the incoming President and my successor at the Ministry for Intelligence Services every success with the important tasks that lie ahead. I will be available as a private citizen to assist them if they call on me to do so.

On a final note, whilst the challenges no doubt remain, I take leave of my Ministerial portfolio, in the belief that significant progress has been made in implementing the programme adopted in 2004. The details in this regard - including the finalisation of the public Report of the Ministerial Review Commission - are set out in the attached document.

Ronnie Kasrils
Ministry for Intelligence Services:
Progress and Achievements, 2004-2008

I believe that significant progress has been made in implementing my programme of action for the Civilian Intelligence Services, adopted in 2004, which sought to build first class intelligence services fit for a South African democracy in the 21st Century. Central to this programme was a focus on the development of the professional capacity of the services - which aimed to strengthen the effectiveness and the legality and propriety of their activities - so as to better enable them to address the complex security threats of a globalised world. The details of this programme are as follows:

Strengthening Effectiveness

In respect of strengthening effectiveness, the services undertook to boost their performance by ensuring that their resources and activities were concentrated on their core business, reflected in the main pillars of the Intelligence Cycle - what I termed as the 'Holy Trinity' of their existence - through the collection of quality information; its sophisticated analysis and assessment; and its timely presentation to policymakers.

Flowing from this, ten priorities for action were then identified through which the success of this programme could be judged, concretely demonstrating that the services were recording measurable progress, giving value for money and were determined to make a difference. Within these ten priorities, two in particular were vital. These were concerned with the optimal use of resources, by ensuring that sufficient funds are allocated to core business through adjustments to personnel, operational and capital expenditure ratios; and the targeted recruitment, strategic placement and ongoing training of members.