The Rise and Fall of South Africa’s Intelligence Community during Apartheid

Abstract

The author explores the context that contributed to the evolution of the South African Intelligence Community (SAIC) from political police to an independent security state during the apartheid, nondemocratic regime (1961–1994). It also assesses the circumstances that led to the demise of authoritarian rule and the reform of the intelligence apparatus. It finds that such factors as the security landscape, changes in leadership, and enabling legislation assisted the SAIC’s consolidation of power as political police, morphing it into an independent security state during that period. Subsequently, leadership, liberalization measures, scandals, and inquiries contributed to the demise of the apartheid intelligence apparatus and the slow emergence of a democratically inclined SAIC.