CAPE TOWN – The lengthy search for a new civilian watchdog over the country’s spy agencies is over.
Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence has chosen its preferred candidate for the long-vacant post of Inspector General of Intelligence.
Dr. Setlhomamaru Isaac Dintwe was the unanimous choice of the committee.
Ten shortlisted candidates were interviewed earlier this month.
The office has been leaderless for the past 18 months since advocate Faith Radebe’s term expired last March.
While the name of Dintwe must first be approved by two thirds of National Assembly Members of Parliament, the committee’s decision was unanimous, indicating cross-party support for him to take over as the country’s next Inspector General of Intelligence.
Dintwe holds a master’s degree in forensic investigations and earned his doctorate in police science from Unisa two years ago, where he heads up the Police Practice Department in the School of Criminal Justice.
Dintwe started out as a constable in 2000, working as a detective and an anti-corruption investigator and also with the police watchdog body, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, before joining Unisa as a lecturer in 2007.
MPs are expected to vote on his nomination next week, after which his name will be sent to President Jacob Zuma, who makes the appointment.
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