21 Dec 2020

Assistant Minister for Presidential Affairs, Governance and Public Administration, Mr Dumizweni Mthimkhulu has emphasised that the role of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security (DIS) in the election security is not incidental to the 2019 general elections.

Responding to a question in Parliament, Mr Mthimkhulu explained that election security was an existential preoccupation that was necessitated by the need to guarantee cyber-security for government’s ICT infrastructure that serviced all government entities including the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC).

Mr Mthimkhulu highlighted that government, in April 2019, identified security risks across its cyber infrastructure and took steps to have them addressed, particularly as the evident vulnerability appeared serious.

“Some of the security risks included high exposure to cyber-attacks through malware phishing and denial of services,” he said.

Mr Mthimkhulu said due to the fact that 2019 was an election year, it was unavoidable for elections cyber security to be part of the country’s assessment, hence mitigations were required. “It was concerning in the 2019 elections  season to observe disinformation campaigns  that sought to suggest that election security was not part of the national security and the false suggestion that security organs such as DIS did not have a role to play in election security,” he said. He said national security encompassed a wide range of responsibilities, chief among them the preservations of a country’s sovereignty and protection of national interests.

Mr Mthimkhulu highlighted that DIS, from time to time, engaged local and international contractors to address security issues for which expertise may be in short supply.

Such contractors, he said, were not disclosed, owing to different contractual obligations as it was trade craft of any responsible security organ. Sefhare/Ramokgonami MP, Dr Kesitegile  Gobotswang had requested the minister to state  the role of the DIS  in the 2019 general elections. ends