Last week, the SA Secret Service (SASS) launched its Web site, giving the public a glimpse of the world of a foreign intelligence agency.
The launch of the Web site, www.sass.gov.za, went virtually unreported by the media, although the main aim of the agency`s Internet presence is to keep the public informed of the role, developments and challenges that the SASS faces.
The SASS, along with the domestic intelligence service, the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), fall under the umbrella of the Department of Intelligence headed by minister Ronnie Kasrils.
The SASS and the NIA were formed 10 years ago through the amalgamation of the various intelligence and security arms of the former government, the African National Congress, the Pan African Congress and those of the so-called homeland governments.
Neither of these services have an executive function, such as making arrests - that is the mandate of the SA Police Service.
According to Department of Intelligence spokesperson Lorna Daniels, the launch of the SASS Web site complements the NIA`s site at www.nia.gov.za, which was launched two years ago.
"The Web sites feature a history, a 10-year review, frequently asked questions, the structure, oversight and control mechanism, and the legal framework in which the services perform their functions," Daniels says.
"The Web site will provide the public with an understanding of the mandate of the service, and my hope is that they will play a greater role in helping us to achieve our goals," says SASS director-general Hilton Dennis.
Daniels says an intelligence service can be compared to a research organisation, although it specialises in obtaining information "that is not readily accessible".
She says a lot of the information comes from "open sources" such as periodicals and the electronic media, including TV and the Internet.
Other intelligence agencies, such as the US`s Central Intelligence Agency (www.cia.gov) and the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6 - www.fco.gov.uk), use the Internet to recruit people and post warning notices that one could be monitored when viewing their sites.
Daniels says the SASS and NIA sites are for information purposes only and no monitoring capabilities have been activated.
She says the Office for Interception, the government agency that will be responsible for electronic eavesdropping, is still being set up and should be activated early next year.
"The requirement for the Office for Interception has been spelled out in the Regulation of Interception and Provision of Communication of Information Act of 2002," Daniels says.
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