The State Security Council (SSC) was formed in South Africa in 1972 to advise the government on the country's national policy and strategy concerning security, its implementation and determining security priorities. Its role changed through the prime ministerships of John Vorster and PW Botha (later State President), being little used during the former's and during the latter's, controlling all aspects of South African public's lives by becoming the Cabinet. During those years he would implement a Total National Strategy, Total Counter-revolutionary Strategy and finally in the mid-eighties, established the National Security Management System (NSMS). After FW de Klerk's rise to the role of State President, the Cabinet would eventually regain control of the management of the country. After the 1994 elections a committee called National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee was formed to advise the South African president on security and intelligence as well as its implementation.
Early origins On 5 September 1969, Prime Minister John Vorster formed a commission led by Justice H.J. Potgieter to establish the guidelines and mission for intelligence gathering by the Military Intelligence (later DMI) and the Bureau for State Security (BOSS). The Commission to Inquire into Certain Intelligence Aspects of State Security, known better as the Potgieter Commission would investigate the clashes between the two organisations over who had primary responsibility for intelligence gathering in South Africa. As the BOSS head Hendrik van den Bergh was a close ally of the Prime Minister, it was seen by Military Intelligence as a foregone conclusion that BOSS would achieve favour. The Potgieter Commission reported back on 2 February 1972 and the results were subsequently used to enact the Security Intelligence and State Security Council Act 64 of 1972 on 24 May 1972. Part of this act established the formation of the State Security Council under the control of the cabinet and established it as the government's national centre for operational security. Due to the domination of BOSS, the State Security Council under Vorster would meet infrequently and would be purely advisory.
B.J Vorster years and the SSC
In October 1974, Vorster initiated a foreign policy of "Détente" seeking support for a constellation of Southern African states who would be a united front against a common enemy, communism. The use of white buffers states began to fail in 1974 with a coup in Portugal, known as the Carnation Revolution, and by 1975 African nationalist groups were in control of its colonies of Angola and Mozambique. BOSS was instrumental in organizing the search for influential allies in the region and arranging the meetings. This policy was soon destroyed by the South African invasion of Angola in 1975 and in June 1976 with the Soweto riots.
The years between 1974 and 1978 were dominated by infighting as various areas of the government for control of the countries foreign and security policy. Foreign Affairs and the Department of Information argued over foreign policy in South Africa and abroad while BOSS and the military argued over the direction of security policy for the country. In 1977, a Defence White Paper was published and outlined the Total Strategy Plan that would later be implemented and dominate the PW Botha years. This plan envisioned the mobilization of South Africa's military, economic, political and social resources so as to defend and advance the country's interests at home and abroad and also called for an increase in the military budget so as to balance the playing fields relative to the southern African states.
In the wake of the Info scandal in which the Bureau of State Security (BOSS) had become mired, the head of the BOSS, Hendrik van den Berg, resigned in June 1978. By 2 October 1978, Prime Minister B.J. Vorster had resigned and on 9 October, the Defence Minister PW Botha was appointed as the new Prime Minister of South Africa.
PW Botha years and the SSC Vorster was appointed as State President on 10 October but would resign in May 1979 when the results of the Erasmus Commission of Inquiry into the Information Scandal were released in that year. On 20 November 1978, the Bureau of State Security was brought under tighter control as a cabinet portfolio called National Security managed by Prime Minister who also held the Minister of Defence portfolio. With the rise of PW Botha to prime minister, so the SADF's power increase in cabinet and with that the Directorate Military Intelligence (DMI), who would strive to dominate security issues in the new government and decide its policy and implementation.
In October 1978, Deputy Defence and Intelligence Minister Kobie Coetsee was appointed by Prime Minister PW Botha to lead a commission of inquiry into intelligence gathering in South Africa and in particular who would be the lead agency. It was believed that it was predetermined that the DMI would be the lead intelligence agency. PW Botha had decided to split the intelligence gathering ability of South Africa amongst four agencies, the DMI, BOSS/DONS, Security Branch and Foreign Affairs, hoping to reduce the political dominance by one over the others, but the rivalry would continue.
On 12 February 1979, the State Security Council issued guidelines for who could authorize five types of external operations by South African forces. A regional strategy for destabilization was also established to prevent the establishment of ANC bases in those countries. In Angola, the South African strategy was to divide the country, supporting secession in the south of the country, managed by the South African Defence Force (SADF) and DMI. In Mozambique, it meant the building up RENAMO, created by the Rhodesians in opposition to the Mozambican government, and under SADF control by 1980, managed by the DMI's Directorate of Special Tasks.
PW Botha described the Westminster system as not appropriate for the country and that in order to implement the Total Strategy, it was necessary to integrate the states resources and overhaul the states political and administrative structures. This rationalization process begun in March 1979 to restructure the states decision-making process. It would centralize the power with the prime minister and sideline the cabinet and parliament. A cabinet secretariat was created in the Office of the Prime Minister, with the reduction of Vorster's twenty cabinet advisory committees to four under PW Botha as decision-making bodies not advisory, not accountable to the cabinet. These would be the committees of National Security, Constitutional, Economic and Social Affairs, each under a minister appointed by the Prime Minister. The National Security committee would manage the SSC and the National Security Management System, with its decisions not having to be ratified by the Cabinet and only informed of them if required by the Prime Minister. The SSC's strategy was managed by thirteen to fifteen Interdepartmental Committees and implemented through fifteen internal and external Joint Management Centre's. On 16 August 1979, the National Security Management System (NSMS) was established which would integrate the efforts of the entire government and its assets towards protecting the state with the SADF, Police and Intelligence services as the core of the system and managed by the Security Council.
In November 1980, PW Botha ordered a Rationalisation Committee be formed to rationalise the intelligence services so as to improve the co-ordination of intelligence in the State Security Council. This committee met between 14 and 19 January 1981 in Simonstown to finalise the functions of each department. This resulted in the Simonstown Accords with the NIS responsible for political and economic intelligence, counter-intelligence and evaluation. DMI would be responsible for military intelligence and contra-mobilisation within South Africa and externally. The Security Branch would be responsible for counter-subversion within South Africa and externally.
By 1985, the South African government realized that its 1983 Tricameral Parliament and its new constitution was a failure as it left out black representation and was responsible for the loss of control of the large townships in the Vaal Triangle and the Eastern Cape to the ANC and its revolutionary struggle. On 21 July 1985, PW Bothas declared a State of Emergency to counter the violence in magisterial districts representing one-third of the country. PW Botha delivered his Rubicon speech to the world on 15 August 1985 that failed to announce the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of Apartheid, rather continuing the current policy. The negative speech had serious financial implications with a drop in the value of the Rand and the reduction of international loans, caused the SSC to realize that the Total Onslaught was not just by communist forces but also had a component of Western hostility.
In April 1986, the SSC developed guidelines to adopt a counter-revolutionary war by using anti-revolutionary groups within South Africa to counter the arming of black communities by ANC by arming and training anti-ANC groups. On 9 May 1986, the SSC received a document concerning a new force to counter revolutionary forces and consensus was reached in the council to create the force. This resulted in the formation of the Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB) with the front company was launched by the South African Special Forces that May. In June 1986, Operation Marion was approved by the SSC with the DMI responsible for training Zulu Inkatha paramilitary forces to counter ANC forces in the townships and this strategy would be attempted in the Ciskei and the Transkei. On 12 June 1986, the governments State of Emergency, cancelled on 7 March 1986, was re-extended to the whole country. Its purpose was to restore law and order, normalise life in the townships so as to create a circumstance for constitutional, economic and social development.
Council membership The Act called for the following persons to be members of the State Security Council:
Prime Minister Minister of Defence Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Justice Minister of Police Chief of the Defence Force Chief of the South African Police Director-General of Bureau for State Security (BOSS) (later National Intelligence Service (NIS)) Secretary of Foreign Affairs Secretary of Justice
and anyone one else required to aid the discussions.
Organisational structure The State Security Council (SSC) presided over the National Security Management System (NSMS) of President P.W. Botha's National Party Government in South Africa. Its function was to advise the government on formulating and executing national security policy. Botha himself chaired the SSC, which was served by a secretariat of 100 full-time staff seconded from other government departments. The SSC had four divisions:
Strategy Planning Branch (Strategy Branch) Strategic Communications (Stratkom) National Intelligence Interpretation Branch, (NIIB) and Administration Branch
Secretariat Established in 1979, these are the three secretaries of the State Security Council: Lt Gen A.J. van Deventer (19791985) Lt Gen Pieter van der Westhuizen (19851988) Lt Gen Charles Lloyd (19881990)
Deputy secretary for most of the 1980s was Major-General J.F van Rensburg.
Strategy Branch
The Strategy Planning Branch developed the national government's strategy. This was undertaken through a Total Planning Cell made up of thirteen interdepartmental committees that developed Total Strategies; security, economic, social and constitutional to counter the Total Onslaught.
Stratkom