National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee


The National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee is the organisation responsible for co-ordinating the actions and activities of all of South African intelligence agencies, and collating the intelligence information received from them. It reports to Cabinet level via the Minister of [State Security (South Africa)|Minister of State Security], and is similar to the British Joint [Intelligence Committee (UK)|Joint Intelligence Committee].

Role of the Committee

The functions of the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee, as outlined in the document in 2008 by the Ministerial Review Commission on Intelligence, are to:
  • Co-ordinate the intelligence collected by the South African intelligence services;
  • Interpret the intelligence collected to identify and detect threats to South African national security;
  • co-ordinate and prioritise intelligence activities within the national intelligence structures;
  • prepare and interpret intelligence estimates;
  • make recommendations to Cabinet on intelligence priorities.

Committee Structure

The South African General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, 2011, sets out the structure of NICOC as:

Current status

On 3 September 2014, State Security Minister David Mahlobo announced that the Head of the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee Dennis Dlomo, appointed to the role in 2013, has been “redeployed” to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.

Co-ordinators for Intelligence

The following people have held the position of Co-ordinator since the restructure of the South African intelligence services in 1994:
  • 1995 – 1996 Mo Shaik
  • 1996 – 2001 Linda Mti
  • 2001 – 2005 Jeff Maqetuka
  • 2005 – 2007 Barry Gilder
  • 2007 – ???? Silumko Sokupa.
  • 2013 – 2014 Dennis Dlomo
  • 2015 - 2016 Dr Clinton Swemmer
  • 2016 - 2017 Dr Mike Masiapato
  • 2017 - to date Ambassador Gab Msimang