Please find herewith the response to the Parliamentary Question 3785 from Hon LS Ngonyama (Congress of the People) raised at the National Assembly on 13 October 2011 which read as follows:
“Whether the sudden departure of intelligence agent Gibson Njenje, before the end of his contract in three years, and likely similar departure of Mo Shaik and Jeff Maqetuka is linked to political interference and influence: If not, why not; if so, what are the substantive, legal and procedural reasons followed; (b) how much will the payouts be, and (c) if this is not a waste of much needed rare skills in this field?”
Answer: The resignation of Gibson Njenje before the end of his contract on 30 September 2012 is not linked to any political interference.
Mr Njenje was appointed in terms of the Public Service Act, 1994 and his conditions of termination of service are guided and regulated in line with Chapter eight of the Senior Management Service Handbook on Employment of Heads of Departments.
The Minister of State Security is in consultation with the Minister of Public Service and Administration to ensure that the financial settlement is in line with the prescribed guidelines.
The departure of Mr Njenje is not seen as a waste of much needed rare skills. Whilst heading the Domestic Branch of the State Security Agency, Mr Njenje was responsible for providing leadership and strategic direction to the Branch under the supervision of the Director-General, State Security Agency.
Whilst his departure leaves a vacancy in the hierarchy of the State Security Agency Senior Management, this will not have a negative impact on peace and security or service delivery of the Agency since Operational plans for the Domestic Branch are in place and line functional management and operatives will continue to implement these.
The continuous rumours regarding the likely similar departure of Mo Shaik and Jeff Maqetuka are just that: rumours. It would be appreciated if political parties abstain from making unconfirmed statements as these might have a negative impact on the morale of management and members within the State Security Agency.
We maintain that because of some contractual confidences, we will not engage our employees through public platforms but will use internal processes as provided for by the regulations.
Mr/Madam Speaker/ Deputy Speaker
We would like to seek guidance on how the current Parliament would like to deal with the questions that may have impact on national security?
In about 2001, former President Mbeki raised similar concerns to this House. The approach adopted was to answer such questions in full in the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI), who had the responsibility to inform the relevant Member of Parliament if they were satisfied with the response or of any additional measures they were taking. This has been the convention followed pending the final formal response by the Parliament.
This is further compounded by the fact that while the initial question may appear normal, the devil usually lies in the details of the follow up questions.
