The government has denied asking the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) to investigate whether any organised force was behind recent service delivery protests.
It said in a statement on Thursday this was confirmed at the Cabinet’s fortnightly meeting in Cape Town on Wednesday.
”[The] Cabinet confirmed that there had been no directive that the NIA should investigate whether there was any organised ‘force’ behind the protests.”
Recent news reports said the NIA was investigating whether a ”secret force” was behind a countrywide spate of protests over housing and service delivery grievances.
Minister of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils reacted by saying his department was ”looking into” the protests as part of its brief to probe perceived or predicted actions that could destabilise the country.
At the time, he said: ”We are trying to discern what is happening, and where it is simply rooted in social protest, we will tell government that.”
The notion of investigations into a so-called ”third force” being behind the demonstrations drew wide condemnation.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions said it appeared police were trying to scare people from raising their legitimate complaints about a lack of housing, and that it was an attempt to stifle legitimate protest.
The statement said all the municipalities affected by protests are among the 136 identified for attention by ”Project Consolidate”, launched by the Cabinet as a programme of ”hands-on support” for municipalities in need of assistance.
That project will be the medium for dealing with grievances. — Sapa