National Intelligence Service (South Africa)

The National Intelligence Service (NIS) is a defunct intelligence agency of the Republic of South Africa that replaced the older South African Bureau of State Security in 1980. Associated with the Apartheid Era in South Africa, it was replaced on the 1 January 1995 by the South African Secret Service and the National Intelligence Agency with the passage of the Intelligence Act (1994).

In the wake of the Info scandal in which the Bureau of State Security (BOSS) had become mired, the head of the BOSS, Hendrik van den Berg, resigned in June 1978 and was replaced by Alec van Wyk. The Bureau for State Security was then renamed the Department of National Security (DONS) in September 1978.

By 2 October 1978, Prime Minister B.J. Vorster had resigned and on 9 October, the Defence Minister PW Botha was appointed as the new Prime Minister of South Africa. Vorster was appointed as State President on 10 October but would resign in May 1979 when the results of the Erasmus Commission of Inquiry into the Information Scandal were released in that year. On 20 November 1978, the Bureau of State Security was brought under tighter control as a cabinet portfolio called National Security managed by Prime Minister who also held the Minister of Defence portfolio. With the rise of PW Botha to prime minister, so the SADF's power increase in cabinet and with that the Directorate Military Intelligence (DMI), who would strive to dominate security issues in the new government and decide its policy and implementation.

In October 1978, Deputy Defence and Intelligence Minister Kobie Coetsee was appointed by Prime Minister PW Botha to lead a commission of inquiry into intelligence gathering in South Africa and in particular who would be the lead agency. It was believed that it was predetermined that the DMI would be the lead intelligence agency. PW Botha had decided to split the intelligence gathering ability of South Africa amongst four agencies, the DMI, BOSS/DONS, Security Branch and Foreign Affairs, hoping to reduce the political dominance by one over the others, but the rivalry would continue. At the same time the Erasmus Commission of Inquiry was investigating the Information scandal. Believing that the outcome of both inquiries were already predetermined, BOSS officials began to shred any document that that could be used against them.

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