Illustrative image | Portia Anyamba, retired SA Air Force brigadier general and former employee linked to the US’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. (Photo: Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Portia “Posh” Anyamba apparently admitted to authorities in the United States (US) that a South African State Security Agency official gave her a laptop and that she was following that individual’s instructions – in exchange for cash payments.
These and other details are contained in her plea agreement.
Daily Maverick reported on Wednesday, 8 July 2026, that Anyamba, a retired SA Air Force brigadier general, was fined and sentenced to six months in jail in the US last month after pleading guilty to acting as an agent for South Africa and to submitting false information in an application for US security clearance.
Anyamba also tried to conceal that she had been in contact with a State Security Agency (SSA) official linked to South Africa’s embassy in Washington, DC.
This official is identified in court documents as IO-1. It is unclear what has happened to the official.
Daily Maverick approached two government spokespersons for comment on the case, but as of Thursday afternoon, none was forthcoming.
‘Paid to attend public functions’
Anyamba, who is originally from Johannesburg and whose surname was previously Sibiya, has a textured background that involved fighting against apartheid and joining the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto weSizwe.
According to a South African Defence Force social media post about her past, she retired from the air force in 2011 and subsequently settled in the US.
The plea agreement in her case details what she admitted to and what other evidence also suggests.
/file/attachments/orphans/127639878_1297410327324862_9151471076078812850_n_287129.jpg "Portia ‘Posh’ Anyamba, a former South African Air Force brigadier general, was recently sentenced to six months’ imprisonment in the United States for being a foreign agent for this country. (Photo: SA National Defence Force post / Facebook)")
In a previous article, Daily Maverick said Anyamba pleaded guilty in October last year – according to a US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) statement – but the plea agreement is dated August last year.
A section said that correspondence between Anyamba and others suggested she was “being paid by South African officials to attend think-tank style public functions”.
She would then “provide written reports for the benefit of the Republic of South Africa about those functions and events.”
Such events are not uncommon in the US, and local politicians are among those who attend.
‘Unauthorised conduct by foreign governments’
The plea agreement said Anyamba was a resident in Tennessee and, until late 2024, was employed by a contractor providing services to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
It is described on its website as “the largest science and energy laboratory for the US Department of Energy”.
Anyamba was married to a person also employed there until late 2024.
SA and the US
Relations between South Africa and the United States 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 the law, and violence.
“During his employment, [he] held a security clearance issued by the United States Government, allowing him to access classified information relevant to the national security of the United States,” the plea agreement said.
Anyamba’s husband was not charged in the case.
The plea agreement explained that in early 2024, the FBI began “an investigation into the defendant and others concerning unauthorized conduct undertaken on behalf of foreign governments”.
It continued: “The investigation revealed information that the defendant was acting in the United States under the direction and control of the Republic of South Africa.
“The investigation further revealed that the defendant had provided materially false statements in connection with her attempts to obtain a security clearance issued by the United States Government, which would have granted her eligibility to access classified information.”
FBI surveillance
Through its investigation, the FBI found out that Anyamba was in contact with the SSA official IO-I.
On 15 February 2024, Anyamba and IO-1 planned to meet at a steak and seafood restaurant in Tennessee – FBI agents monitored this.
“They observed the defendant meet with IO-1 and another known individual affiliated with the Republic of South Africa (‘Individual 2’),” the plea agreement said.
FBI agents watched the trio go to a hotel, and Anyamba later returned home “where FBI agents watched her retrieve an item from her car and take it into her house”.
The plea agreement said that on 25 April 2024, Anyamba and her husband travelled to a hotel in Washington DC.
“From the hotel, the pair were transported to the Embassy of South Africa, where they stayed for approximately two and a half hours,” the plea agreement said.
“At no time relevant to the information has the defendant registered as an agent of a foreign government or otherwise provided notice to the Attorney General about any attendant activities.”
‘Hey ladies’ and the gym message
On 20 June 2024, Anyamba submitted an application form for a US government security clearance.
One of the questions in the application was: “Have you or any member of your immediate family in the last seven (7) years had any contact with a foreign government, its establishment (such as embassy, consulate, agency, military service, intelligence or security service, etc.) or its representatives, whether inside or outside the U.S.?”
Anyamba had replied “no.”
This was false.
/file/attachments/orphans/3554773086_8e8b390f57_b_0_443734.jpg "Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. (Photo: Oak Ridge National Laboratory / Wikipedia)")
The plea agreement said that about a week before submitting the application, Anyamba had asked two people if she could include them as references, who agreed.
On 23 June 2024 (three days after she submitted the application), she sent the individuals a message: “Hey Ladies! 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. The only work I listed was working at the gym, and nothing else.”
The plea agreement said that Anyamba and IO-1 planned to meet again on 7 November 2024.
It added: “Prior to the meeting, IO-1 instructed the defendant: ‘Please remember to also bring the laptop with!’ ”
Intercepted and ‘voluntary admissions’
Before the meeting took place, FBI agents obtained a court-authorised search warrant for Anyamba’s “person, her residence, and certain electronic devices in her possession or control”.
On 7 November 2024, Anyamba arrived at an eatery in Knoxville for the planned meeting with IO-1, where FBI agents intercepted her just before it went ahead.
IO-1 and the other person with links to South Africa, “Individual 2,” had arrived shortly after.
Anyamba had her laptop with her, and she handed it over to the FBI.
According to the plea agreement, she had “voluntarily” spoken to the FBI agents.
/file/attachments/orphans/pic20_140520.jpg "Portia ‘Posh’ Anyamba, a former South African Air Force brigadier general, was recently sentenced to jail in the United States for being a foreign agent.<br>(Photo: SA National Defence Force post / Facebook)")
(Photo: SA National Defence Force post / Facebook)
The plea agreement said: “Among other things, she admitted that: the laptop in her custody was provided to her by IO-1; she conducted activities in the United States at IO-1’s instruction; she received cash payments for her work from IO-1; she was aware that IO-1 was not a United States citizen and was employed by the South African Government; and she did not include her relationship with IO-1 in her [security clearance application form].”
Daily Maverick tried to determine where Anyamba was detained following her sentencing last month, but a search on the US government’s online inmate locator system on Thursday 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, or on parole or supervised release.” DM