Issued by: Ministry for Intelligence Services
10 January 1999
City Press of 9 January 2000 carried a front-page article with allegations that the offices of two human rights activists in KwaZulu-Natal were "being bugged by old guard elements in the National Intelligence Agency". Yet, at the same, the article is captioned with the wording that "NIA is bugging you".
The Ministry for Intelligence Services would like to put on record that these allegations are unfounded and untrue. The Director General of
the NIA has investigated the matter and has assured me that no such operation has been conducted by the Agency. We are of the view that none of the people mentioned in the article pose any threat to national security, in order to attract the attention of the intelligence services.
In light of the good working relationship we have had as Intelligence with organs of civil society, including some of the people mentioned in the article, we call on them to supply us with the information on which the allegations are based. It is in the national interest to bring the perpetrators of these illegal acts to book. The Ministry for intelligence Services will give its fullest cooperation in this regard.