Professor at the Wits School of Governance, Antony van Niekerk, says it is not yet evident that the two incidents, that of the burning of Parliament in Cape Town on Sunday night and the breaking of windows at the Constitutional Court building in Johannesburg on Wednesday, are coordinated attacks on government.
Van Niekerk says it is the job of intelligence to stop attacks before they happen and especially on national key points.
“I want to point out that we have many national key points of which some really stand out. Our airports, for example, the seat of government in Pretoria, Tshwane, the SABC itself a source of national communication and broadcasting, these are places that you would assume are being protected without us even thinking about it. It is the purpose of the security sector and intelligence to do that,” says Van Niekerk.
In the video below, Dr Jakkie Cilliers, the head of African Futures and Innovation at the ISS, discusses South Africa’s state security and intelligence services:
Ramaphosa on Constitutional Court vandalism
Ramaphosa has described as concerning the acts of vandalism at the Constitutional Court in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. A 36-year-old man has been arrested after he allegedly used a hammer to smash windows at the Constitutional Court buildings.
Ramaphosa says he’s yet to be briefed by the relevant Ministers on the matter but says it’s a real concern for the country.
“Well, I’m still to get a report on that and the Ministers are looking at it. I mean it’s really concerning but they are going to investigate and we will find out exactly what happened there.”
Buildup programme kicks off today towards #ANC110 January 8th Statement taking place this Saturday, 8 January 2022 at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, Limpopo. Today I am in the Sekhukhune region. pic.twitter.com/X880B1SnTW
— Cyril Ramaphosa ?? (@CyrilRamaphosa) January 5, 2022
