Submission on the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill

The Helen Suzman Foundation (“HSF”) appreciates that the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill (“Bill”) aims to comply with the directives of the Financial Action Task Force and the recommendations of the State Capture Report; and that prior iterations of the Bill have been revised to remove express provision for vetting ‘non-profit organisations and religious organisations.’1 1.2. [...] Clause 3 of the Bill proposes to amend section 2(A)(1) of the NSI Act to require the Agency to vet persons who: “(a) [Fall] within a prescribed category of persons or institutions who must have a security clearance – (i) in order to be employed or render a particular service to an organ of state; (ii) in order to have access to classified information and intelligence in the possession of that orga. [...] Section 4(2)(a)(i) of the NSI Act, in turn, describes threats to national security in broad terms as “any threat or potential threat to the national the national security of the Republic.” 2.3. [...] While HSF recognizes that the state has a legitimate interest in vetting persons listed in the proposed section 2A(1)(a)(i) to (iii), the proposed section 2A(1)(a)(iv) is dangerously broad as it effectively exposes all institutions and individuals to the risk of being vetted by the agency. [...] A “person or institution of national security interest” is defined in clause 1(p) of the Bill as: “any person or institution, identified by the Agency in the form and manner prescribed, that conducts himself/herself for itself or engages in activities that are inconsistent with the principles set out in section 198 of the Constitution including any person or institution that engages in activities.