Illustrative image: Former Oak Ridge National Laboratory employee and former South African Air Force brigadier general Portia Anyamba. | Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photos: Oak Ridge National Laboratory) A former South African Air Force brigadier general has been sentenced to jail in the United States (US) for acting as a foreign agent under South African control, thereby violating the law.
Portia Anyamba, 59, also tried to get a US government security clearance but provided false information in the application process.
According to the US, she had been in contact with someone from this country’s State Security Agency (SSA), whereas in her security clearance application she stated that she had not had contact with representatives of a foreign government in the past seven years.
The saga has been reported on in the US, but up until now it does not appear to have featured in local news.
‘Great career’ aspiration to prison term
Anyamba had been working at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
According to its website, it is the US’s “largest science and energy laboratory” and it “conducts wide-ranging research to address the nation’s energy, environmental and security challenges — ensuring America’s future.”
It is unclear what Anyamba was planning in the US as an agent of South Africa.
This week, Daily Maverick sent questions about the case to deputy government spokesperson William Baloyi, who on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, replied that there was “no comment”.
An attempt for further information on the case from a lawyer who appeared to represent Anyamba in the US was unsuccessful.
There does not appear to be much information about her online.
A post on LinkedIn, which appears to have been deleted (only traces remained online recently), attributes a quote to Anyamba, saying: “Having a great career while making a positive impact in our society has always been top on my wish list.”
‘National security risk’
A press release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, from mid-June 2026, detailed the case against her.
It quoted Terence Reilly, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Special Agent in Charge of the Nashville Field Office, as saying that Anyamba, acting as an agent for “a foreign country” – South Africa – “placed national security at risk”.
“All across the country, each and every day, the FBI and our strategic partners will continue to work together to review intelligence and investigate threats to our national security in order to protect our citizens from foreign and domestic attacks,” Reilly said.
The June press release explained that Anyamba pleaded guilty to acting as an agent for South Africa and to making false statements in her security clearance application.
(Daily Maverick established that she pleaded guilty in October 2025.)
SA and the US
Relations between South Africa and the United States of America have been rocky under US President Donald Trump’s administration. Issues that have created tension between the countries include Trump’s siding with those pushing the narrative that white Afrikaner people in South Africa are being targeted via laws and violence.
Last month, Anyamba was sentenced to six months in jail, followed by two years of supervised release, and was fined $9,500 – around R151,000.
Daily Maverick searched for her on the US government’s online inmate locator system, which showed she was not in Federal Bureau of Prisons custody.
This means she “may still be in the custody of some other correctional/criminal justice system/law enforcement entity.”
US government energy facility
According to the US Attorney’s Office press release from last month, a plea agreement in the case stated that Anyamba had worked as a programme management operational specialist in the National Security Program Office at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The statement described the laboratory, established in 1943, as “a unique facility” in Tennessee.
It explained that it “is currently a United States Department of Energy facility dedicated to energy, innovation, and national security, among other things.”
The statement said that during an investigation, FBI agents realised that Anyamba was in regular contact with an intelligence officer.
SSA contact
This officer, identified in court documents as OI-1, was “working for the Republic of South Africa’s State Security Agency”.
OI-1 was also involved with the South African Embassy in Washington.
“In February 2024, IO-1 communicated with Anyamba and arranged a meeting to occur in Knoxville, Tennessee,” the statement said.
“FBI agents surveilled the planned encounter and watched as Anyamba met with IO-1 and another individual known by the FBI to be affiliated with the Republic of South Africa.”
The group initially met at a restaurant in Knoxville, Tennessee, before driving to a nearby hotel.
“After the meeting, Anyamba left the hotel and returned to her residence, where FBI agents watched her retrieve an item from her car and take it into her house,” the statement said.
‘Bring the laptop’
She and IO-1 planned another meeting in Knoxville, and before this, IO-1 had told her: “Please remember to also bring the laptop with!”
The statement said that on 7 November 2024, in a district in Knoxville, “FBI personnel intercepted Anyamba immediately prior to her planned meeting with IO-1 and retrieved a laptop computer from her custody.”
It added that while she was “under the control of foreign agents”, Anyamba had been applying for a US government security clearance.
If this had been granted, she would have gained access to certain classified information.
According to the press statement, in her application for security clearance, Anyamba certified and submitted a form advising applicants that if they provided false information, they could face criminal penalties.
“Among other things, Anyamba certified that she had no continuing contact with a foreign national and that she had not had contact with representatives of a foreign government in the past seven years,” the statement said.
“Court documents state that, knowing her answers to be both material and false, Anyamba answered ‘no’ to both questions.
“She also contacted individuals she listed as references and told them: ‘I have just gotten information that they have started with the interviews. They are sensitive about foreign connections. So please don’t mention anything about the embassy.’ ”
These were among the issues that resulted in the criminal case against her.
Last year, the FBI listed the matter as one of two “significant counterintelligence cases” for its Nashville Field Office. DM