Statement: R2K welcomes the National Assembly’s decision on Cecil Burgess!

R2K welcomes the withdrawal of Cecil Burgess’s name as the next Inspector-General of Intelligence. The National Assembly voted to withdraw Burgess’s name this afternoon after 9 months of delays and evasion. 

This is a major victory for R2K as we have fought hard against the appointment of Mr Burgess, whom we deem not fit for the Office of the Inspector General because of his past conduct as the chairperson of the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence.

We urge Parliament to swiftly appoint a suitable candidate that will fill the surveillance watchdog role, that has been vacant for a year now. The country cannot afford not to have an intelligence structure’s oversight.

We demand a transparent process of how Parliament’s intelligence committee identifies a new candidate. And we want to know when is this process going to be finalised, as this appointment is long overdue. Complaints of illegal surveillance have been stacking up, the IGI appointment process must be finalised urgently.

R2K reiterates its call for an independent and impartial candidate for this role. We demand an Inspector General who will protect citizens from abuses of the spies. We demand someone who is fearless, independent and transparent. We will accept no less.

We also express gratitude all our supporters and partners especially the Legal Resources Centre that assisted with legal matters when we threatened Parliament with a court action in order to finalise this matter.

NO MORE DELAYS!

WE DEMAND AN INDEPENDENT WATCHDOG!