In an exclusive report, Sunday World reveals that the State Security Agency (SSA) of South Africa has been withholding a top-secret incident from the public for over a month. According to the SSA, they believe they were hacked by Britain's MI6 and the US' CIA, with insiders claiming that sensitive and compromising information was accessed. The SSA has obtained a video clip it considers intelligence data, indicating that South Africa, along with Russia and India, were the targets of a coordinated cyber attack in August, just prior to the Brics Summit.
The investigation conducted by the SSA suggests that Russia was the initial victim of the attack, followed by India. Following the incident, a high-ranking official named Joe Mbhambhu was forced to resign, despite not being responsible for the agency's cyber unit. Mbhambhu was allegedly blamed for the hacking and dismissed by SSA Director General Thembi Majola. However, sources within the agency believe that the hackers received assistance from individuals within the organization, leading to accusations of treason and espionage.
Multiple sources have confirmed that the hackers gained access to the agency's internal email messages, as well as a strategic management group on the secure communication platform Telegram. The incident was kept secret due to its embarrassing nature and potential exposure of the agency's vulnerabilities. Concerns have been raised that the compromised information could expose agency operations and potentially endanger informants.
No party has claimed responsibility for the hacking thus far. The sources indicate that the incident occurred approximately a week before the Brics summit, which took place in Sandton, Johannesburg. The summit includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, but Russian President Vladimir Putin was unable to attend in person due to the fear of being arrested for alleged war crimes in Ukraine. Putin participated in the summit remotely from Russia.
While suspicions point to American or Russian intelligence agencies, internal forces have not been ruled out due to the volatile political situation in South Africa. The hacking of the state security agency has raised concerns about the embarrassing breach and the unknown identity of the perpetrators. The SSA manages national security information ranging from classified state secrets to top-secret level, covering various operations and counter-intelligence efforts.
Joe Mbhambhu declined to comment on the matter, while Thembi Majola stated that she was unaware of any hacking incident.
