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Intelligence Services Oversight Act, 1994 (Act No. 40 of 1994)

7. Inspector-General

 

(1) The President shall appoint an Inspector-General of Intelligence—
(a) nominated by the Committee; and
(b) approved by the National Assembly by a resolution supported by at least two thirds of its members:

Provided that if the nomination is not approved as required in paragraph (b), the Committee shall nominate another person.

 

(2) The Inspector-General shall be a South African citizen who is a fit and proper person to hold such office and who has knowledge of intelligence.

 

(3) The remuneration and other conditions of employment of the Inspector-General shall be determined by the President with the concurrence of the Committee and such remuneration shall not be reduced, nor shall such conditions be adversely altered during his or her term of office.

 

(4) The Inspector-General may be removed from office by the President, but only on the grounds of misconduct, incapacity withdrawal of his or her security clearance, poor performance or incompetence as prescribed.

 

(5) If the Inspector-General is the subject of an investigation by the Committee, in terms of subsection (4), he or she may be suspended by the President pending a decision in such investigation.

 

(6) The Inspector-General shall be accountable to the Committee for the overall functioning of his or her office, and shall report on his or her activities and the performance of his or her functions to the committee at least once a year.

 

 

(7) The functions of the Inspector-General are, in relation to the Services—
(a) to monitor compliance by any Service with the Constitution, applicable laws and relevant policies on intelligence and counter-intelligence;
(b) to review the intelligence and counter-intelligence activities of any Service;
(c) to perform all functions designated to him or her by the President or any Minister responsible for a Service;
(cA) to receive and investigate complaints from members of the public and members of the Services on alleged maladministration, abuse of power, transgressions of the Constitution, laws and policies referred to in paragraph (a), the commission of an offences referred to in Part 1 to 4, or section 17, 20 or 21 (in so far as it relates to the aforementioned offences) of Chapter 2 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, 2004, and improper enrichment of any person through an act or omission of any member;

[Section 7(7)(cA) substituted by section 36(1) of Act No. 12 of 2004]

(d) to submit certificates contemplated in subsection (11)(c) to the relevant Ministers;

[Section 7(7)(d) substituted by section 7(b) of Act No. 52 of 2003]

(e) to submit reports to the Committee pursuant to section 3(1)(f); and
(f) to submit reports to every Minister responsible for a Service pursuant to the performance of functions contemplated in paragraphs (a), (b), (c) and (cA): Provided that where the Inspector-General performs functions designated to him or her by the President, he or she shall report to the President.

[Section 7(7) amended by section 7(a) of Act No. 52 of 2003]

 

(7A) The reports of the Inspector-General contemplated in subsection (7)(f) in respect of monitoring and reviewing shall contain the findings and recommendations of the Inspector-General.

 

(8) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in this or any other law or the common law, the Inspector-General—
(a) shall have access to any intelligence, information or premises under the control of any Service if such access is required by the Inspector-General for the performance of his or her functions, and he or she shall be entitled to demand from the Head of the Service in question and its employees such intelligence, information, reports and explanations as the Inspector-General may deem necessary for the performance of his or her functions;
(aA) shall inform the Head of a Service prior to his or her access to the premises of such Service in writing of his or her intention to have access to such premises: Provided that the notice shall specify the date and the nature of access to the premises;
(b) may, if the intelligence or information received by him or her in terms of paragraph (a) is subject to any restriction in terms of any law, disclose it only—
(i) after consultation with the President and the Minister responsible for the Service in question; and
(ii) subject to appropriate restrictions placed on such intelligence or information by the Inspector-General, if necessary; and
(iii) to the extent that such disclosure is not detrimental to the national interest;
(c) shall have access to any other intelligence, information or premises which is not under the control of any Service if such access is necessary for the performance of his or her functions in terms of subsection (7) and he or she shall be entitled to demand from any such person such intelligence, information, reports and explanations as he or she may deem necessary for the performance of his or her functions: Provided that the Inspector-General shall not have access if such intelligence or information is not necessary for the performance of his or her functions:  Provided further that the Inspector-General shall first obtain a warrant issued in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1977 (Act No. 51 of 1977), if such information, intelligence or premises are not under the control of the Services in question;
(d) may, if the intelligence or information received by him or her in terms of paragraph (c) is subject to any privilege or restriction in terms of any law, disclose it only –
(i) after he or she has given written notice of his or her intention to do so to the lawful possessor of such intelligence or information; and
(ii) after consultation with the President and the Minister responsible for the Service in question; and
(iii) subject to appropriate restrictions placed on such intelligence or information by the Inspector-General, if necessary; and
(iv) to the extent that such disclosure is not detrimental to the national interest.

 

(9) No access to intelligence, information or premises contemplated in subsection (8)(a) may be withheld from the Inspector-General on any ground.

 

(10) The Inspector-General—
(a) shall comply with all security requirements applicable to the employees of the Agency; and

[Section 7(10)(a) substituted by section 12(a) of Act No. 11 of 2013]

(b) shall serve impartially and independently and perform his or her functions in good faith and without fear, favour bias or prejudice.

 

(11)        

(a) Each Head of a Service shall, in respect of every period of 12 months or such lesser period as is specified by the Minister responsible for that Service, submit to that Minister, a report on the activities of that Service during that period, and shall cause a copy of such report to be submitted to the Inspector-General
(b)
(i) Each Head of a Service shall report to the Inspector-General regarding any unlawful intelligence activity or significant intelligence failure of that Service and any corrective action that has been taken or is intended to be taken in connection with such activity or failure.
(ii) Each Head of a Service shall submit the report referred to in subparagraph (i) to the Inspector-General within a reasonable period after such unlawful intelligence activity or significant intelligence failure came to his or her attention.
(c) As soon as practicable after receiving a copy of a report referred to in paragraph (a), the Inspector-General shall submit to the Minister responsible for the Service in question, a certificate stating the extent to which the Inspector-General is satisfied with the report and whether anything done by that Service in the course of its activities during the period to which the report relates, in the opinion of the Inspector-General—
(i) is unlawful or contravenes any directions issued by the Minister responsible for that Service; or
(ii) involves an unreasonable or unnecessary exercise by that Service of any of its powers.
(d) As soon as practicable after receiving a report referred to in paragraph (a) and a certificate of the Inspector-General referred to in paragraph (c), the Minister responsible for the Service in question shall, subject to section 4(2), cause the report and certificate to be transmitted to the Committee.

 

(12) The Minister may, after consultation with the Inspector-General, appoint such number of persons to the office of the Inspector-General as may be necessary for the performance of the functions of that office, on such conditions of employment as are applicable to members of the intelligence services.

 

(12A) The National Commissioner of the South African Police Service and the Chief of the South African National Defence Force may, if requested by the Inspector-General, second employees of the Service or the Force, as the case may be, to the office of the Inspector-General with the consent of the employees concerned and in terms of the laws governing the secondment in question.

[Section 7(12A) inserted by section 7(c) of Act No. 52 of 2003]

 

(13) The budget of the office of the Inspector-General shall be appropriated by Parliament as part of the budget vote of the intelligence services, and shall be expended in accordance with the rules and procedures as set out in the Public Finance Management Act, 1999 (Act No. 1 of 1999).

 

(14) The Inspector-General may, in writing, delegate any function contemplated in subsection (7) to any employee in his or her office, and any function performed in terms of such a delegation shall be deemed to have been performed by the Inspector-General.

 

[Section 7 substituted by section 7 of Act No. 66 of 2002]