“If racism is allowed to manifest itself like in other parties, institutions and countries where racists are harboured and sought refuge (sic), it poses a security risk to our national security,” David Mahlobo told MPs and guests gathered in Parliament’s Old Assembly Chamber for his budget vote speech. “We cannot claim to be truly free when racism still rears its ugly head in our institutions of higher learning, in the media, in the private and public sectors, in the boardrooms, and racist elements are becoming bold and arrogant.”

The start of 2016 was marred by a series of high-profile racist incidents, which correctly sparked widespread public outrage, and saw the DA embarrassed over its member Penny Sparrow. Complaints are before the Equality Court. The government dedicated the 21 March Human Rights Day to eradicating racism. In January it released for public comment a draft national action plan to combat racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. A bit faster than this 14-year lapse over commitment arising from the Durban anti-racism conference, it emerged during the justice budget vote earlier this month, are moves to criminalise hate speech in a Hate Crimes Bill.

But Mahlobo hawked a securocrat intelligence perspective. “If racism does not get managed… it is a security issue,” he told journalists, adding it could never be that the intelligence service remained inactive. “Our analysis will bring up issues of economy, security, politics… so government can deal with it.”

While South Africans have the right to protest, he said, these often are hijacked as were last year’s student protests over fee increases. Mahlobo appeared somewhat baffled as to how the 2015 #FeesMustFall this year morphed into protests over language, racism and sexual violence on campus: “When a matter is addressed, you must say the matter is addressed. You don’t change the goalposts.”

Moving on to community protests, he said these often were infiltrated by those who decided to “undermine the authority of the state” and provoke the police into shootings “so we can have another Marikana”. South Africans have the right to voice their grievances, but “you must be peaceful; you must be unarmed – then you can present a petition”.

And NGOs? “There are those who are very funny. Those we know from our tradecraft,” he said, adding that he would not name names. “We know some students are given money by NGOs… We never disclose because of our tradecraft.”

While many civil society organisations had done their bit during apartheid, today there are those which “cannot explain their funding”, don’t know their directors, but whose “premises are highly secured”. Saying one multinational company “whispered to us” it was using NGOs, Mahlobo said: “They (NGOs) are just security agents that are being used for covert operations.”

Several times the state security minister repeated that in “the contestation in our body politic”, issues are raised “opportunistically”. For his deputy Ellen Molekane this included the interpretation of “some forces, political parties” of the Constitutional Court judgment on Nkandla to call for the resignation of President Jacob Zuma, even though that was not there in the judgment. They were trying to make something of nothing, she added.

“We must never yield to some domestic and international forces that might harbour intentions of creating conditions conducive to unconstitutional change of government,” said Mahlobo. And his list of actors among those forces includes “mass media, NGOs and community-based organisations, foreign multinational companies, funders of opposition, religious and student organisations, prominent and influential persons”.

It’s a long list, which blurs the line between valid intelligence concerns and the terrains of legitimate social and political engagement.

In addition, it emerged state security was “creating the conditions of security within state departments and entities through the provision of counter-intelligence awareness and training programmes aimed at raising the security competence of state employees”.

What exactly that meant was not elaborated by Mahlobo in his budget vote held in the name of National Treasury, which this financial year transfers R4.32-billion to the South African Secret Services Account under Programme 10, according to the Estimates of National Expenditure document.

The state security minister on Tuesday frequently cited the Constitution, particularly Section 16(2), the limitations to freedom of speech regarding propaganda for war, incitement to imminent violence and advocacy of hatred, and Section 17: “Everyone has the right, peacefully and unarmed, to assemble, to demonstrate and to present petitions.”

But the Constitution also states in Section 199 that security services may not prejudice a legitimate political party interest or “further in a partisan manner, any interest of a political party”. And Section 198 states: “National security is subject to the authority of Parliament and the national executive.”

So it’s not just Mahlobo and his operatives’ job. Perhaps for this reason he called on South Africans to make state security “a societal issue”.

But by vowing state security would lead the way in securing the country’s territorial integrity, people, infrastructure and national interest, Mahlobo spread clandestinity to many issues that should be dealt with at the level of governance, politics, law and effective policing. This goes against the grain of South Africa’s constitutional democracy founded on values of transparency, openness and responsiveness. DM

Photo: President Jacob Zuma introduces Minister of State Security David Mahlobo to President of Angola Jos? Eduardo Dos Santos on arrival. President Zuma is on a working visit to Angola. The President is accompanied by the Minister of State Security, Mr David Mahlobo. 24/11/2015 (Photo: GCIS)