Inspector-General of Intelligence interview: Dintwe gunning for second term, says lack of independence is enemy No 1

Cape Town - The Inspector-General of Intelligence, Setlhomamaru Dintwe, has said that independence remains one of the biggest challenges in his office.

Dintwe has his eyes set on serving a second term as chief of the spy watchdog. He was interviewed by Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence.

His term in office comes to an end on 31 March.

In opening, Dintwe made reference to his 59 months in office and further said, “the main interest of this committee is to hear how I intend to attend to solve those problems”.

He highlighted independence of the office as a major challenge coupled with the lack of resources.

Solving the problems can only be done once determining the vision, he said. He referred to the provisions found in the Constitution - transparency and accountability.

The aim is to become a trusted and accessible institution of oversight which intends to hold the intelligence services accountable and transparent in pursuit of the human rights of the citizens of this country, Dintwe said.

“That vision cannot be achieved without acknowledging what are the problems. Biggest challenge is the legislation and the second challenge is the structural.”

“There are problems of independence and they are occasioned, if not exacerbated, by the fact the resources are also not achieved.”

He said the resources are more of an administrative issue, not legislative.

“The enemies include lack of independence and the fight back from the overseen, the resistance from the overseen. My vision is to maximise our impact - the impact of our recommendations.

“The failure to implement recommendations is a strategy issue that needs to be dealt with.

“It is an established fact that most of the institutions in this country, especially those ones that deal with accountability or enforcement of laws, have been pillaged over a particular time.

“When I came into this position, my first goal was to rebuild. Rebuilding also takes time, but it took more time because we did not stop what we had to do. We are rebuilding simultaneously with ensuring that we hold the intelligence services accountable,” Dintwe said.

He said two events which resulted in the office regressing a bit included the withdrawal of his security clearance and Covid-19.

tarryn-leigh.solomons@inl.co.za

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