South Africa's State Security Agency Targeted Opposition Party Without Legal Basis, Court Told

The Gauteng High Court hearing reveals a state intelligence operation directed at a parliamentary opposition party, raising questions about the boundaries of lawful domestic surveillance in South...

A court in South Africa heard this week that a secret State Security Agency operation code-named Project Mayibuye targeted the Economic Freedom Fighters, a registered parliamentary opposition party, without any established national security justification, according to reporting by Daily Maverick.

The Gauteng High Court was told that Project Mayibuye should not have been authorized in the first place. Despite that, the operation proceeded, and millions of rand were channeled through it, according to testimony presented before the court, as reported by Daily Maverick on October 28, 2026.

The Economic Freedom Fighters, known as the EFF, is a left-wing political party founded in 2013 by Julius Malema after his expulsion from the African National Congress Youth League. The EFF holds seats in the National Assembly and functions as a recognized opposition force within South Africa's constitutional democracy.

The State Security Agency, or SSA, is the primary civilian intelligence body in South Africa, established under the Intelligence Services Act. Its mandate is defined as gathering foreign intelligence and countering threats to national security. Using SSA resources to monitor a domestic political party participating in lawful electoral politics falls outside that statutory mandate as described by the court testimony reported by Daily Maverick.

The disclosure that millions of rand moved through the operation adds a financial dimension to the legal questions. South Africa's Public Finance Management Act requires accountability for all expenditure of public funds. Neither the court testimony as reported nor Daily Maverick's account specified who authorized the financial flows or which budget line they were drawn from. That information would be required to assess whether additional statutory violations occurred.

South Africa has a documented history of intelligence agencies being used for political purposes. The Zondo Commission, which concluded its work in 2022, produced extensive findings on the capture of state institutions during the presidency of Jacob Zuma, including the use of security and intelligence resources for factional political ends. The commission's final report, released in stages between 2022 and 2022, named the SSA as one of the institutions affected by state capture.

The current court proceedings have not been linked directly to the Zondo Commission findings as of the reporting available, but they represent a continued pattern of judicial scrutiny of SSA conduct. The identity of the officials who authorized Project Mayibuye, and whether any face criminal or disciplinary exposure, had not been confirmed in the reporting reviewed for this article.

The EFF's response to the court testimony was not included in the Daily Maverick report reviewed for this story. The SSA's formal position before the court also was not detailed in the available source material. What would clarify both points is the full record of the Gauteng High Court proceedings as they continue.

South Africa's Constitution, specifically Section 37 and the Bill of Rights provisions governing freedom of association and political participation, provides the legal framework against which any state interference with a political party would be evaluated. Whether the court will make a formal finding on constitutionality depends on the relief sought by the parties, which the available reporting does not specify.

The case is ongoing. The next scheduled proceedings in the Gauteng High Court, and the names of the parties formally before the court, were not confirmed in the source material available at the time of publication.