The Democratic Alliance (DA) will request that the Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI), Adv. Faith Radebe, launch an investigation into the appointment of a top spy alleged to be close to President Zuma.

This follows the potentially irregular appointment of Thulani Dhlomo to head up a special operations unit within the State Security Agency (SSA), despite being subject to an ongoing R45 million corruption investigation by KwaZulu-Natal's treasury.

Dhlomo resigned as head of security of the KwaZulu-Natal provincial department of Social Development after an internal audit found that he interfered in tender procedures and awarded dodgy contracts of up to R45 million. The audit recommended that Dhlomo face criminal charges, but no action has been taken to date.

We must determine how it was possible that Dhlomo was appointed to a top position in the SSA when he was being investigated for corruption. It is hard to imagine that Dhlomo would have received a security clearance, given the corruption investigation. And it is hard to imagine that Dhlomo would have been appointed without a security clearance. There is clearly something very wrong in the SSA.

The IGI must investigate the appointment process of Dhlomo and how, if at all, he underwent the required vetting process and received the necessary security clearance given the ongoing graft probe.

The IGI must, in terms of section 7 of the Intelligence Services Oversight Act, impartially and independently investigate complaints of alleged misconduct, maladmistration and abuse of power within the services.

The Department of State Security must also suspend Dhlomo pending the outcome of the investigation by the IGI.

The SSA appears to be in a chaotic state following the departure of all three directors-general in the last year and continued indications that the services are a battlefield for the ANC's internal political war.

Dhlomo's suspension is a necessary precautionary measure to prevent the political abuse of national security resources such as the SSA.

David Maynier, DA Spokesperson on Intelligence