Immigration complaints overshadow spy bill hearing in Limpopo
Limpopo residents in Musina used the public hearing on the controversial General Intelligence Law Amendment Bill to raise concerns about cross-border crime and illegal migration in the area.
The Ad Hoc Committee on the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill held its first public hearing in the Musina Local Municipality on Monday.
More than 250 people attended the hearing.
The bill follows the recommendations of the Presidential High-Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency, which found that the security agency had largely become a parallel intelligence structure serving a faction of the ANC and the personal political interests of the then-sitting president Jacob Zuma.
The committee has received over 6,000 written submissions to date.
The committee’s chairperson, Jerome Maake, says the input from residents mainly revolved around issues related to cross-border crime and illegal migration in the area.
"The attendees also raised questions about whether the intelligence gathered by the intelligence services reached the South African Police Service, the South African National Defence Force, and the Border Management Agency, which is responsible for border security.
“The oral inputs also stressed the need for improved intelligence-driven policing in the area, and residents called for an urgent increase in police.
“They also called for soldiers to be deployed along the borders. These concerns are all linked to the bill, as it is evident that intelligence-driven border safeguarding requires effective intelligence services," he says.
Parliament has since extended the public comment period from 31 January to 15 February.
Maake says the decision was made following several requests for an extension by individuals and various groups interested in making submissions.
"The extension was granted because the advertisement was published during the beginning of the holiday season in mid-December 2023.
“With the current extension, the advertisement would have run for almost two months, sufficient time for the public to make written submissions.
“Unfortunately, the timeline to process the bill, coupled with the Ad Hoc Committee on the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill having to report to the National Assembly by 1 March 2024, implies that no further extensions may be granted," says Maake.
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