Intelligence ministry denies NGO-spy allegations

The intelligence ministry denied reports that South Africa's spy services were co-operating with Zimbabwe on the monitoring of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Lorna Daniels, the ministerial spokesperson, said the issue of NGOs had not come up in bilateral talks with Zimbabwe last week. The Sunday Times reported that according to Aggrey Maringa, the Zimbabwean director of intelligence, South Africa was sharing with Zimbabwe intelligence on NGOs operating simultaneously in both countries.

This prompted the Democratic Alliance (DA) to ask "whether what Maringa has said is in fact the case?" Rafeek Shah, the DA spokesperson, said South Africa had to treat with the greatest reserve any information given to them by Zimbabwe.

DA concerned about strenghtening relations
Shah said the DA was also concerned about South Africa strengthening its relations with "a military that is responsible for ongoing human rights abuses by bringing in Zimbabwean trainers to teach South African pilots."

There were serious questions about whether the Zimbabwean trainers were suited for the job. "The Zimbabwean Air Force, for the most part, uses Second World War-era planes, it is not clear whether their trainers would be able to help our trainee pilots to use the technologically advanced European aircraft, the South African Air Force has recently acquired," said Shah. - Sapa