The South African Supreme Court of Appeal has granted Independent Media the green light to publish contents from a leaked State Security Ministry report, showing that the US is gathering intelligence on the African National Congress (ANC), the court's ruling said.
The court thus granted the appeal of journalist Thabo Makwakwa, who after receiving the report three years ago, approached the South African deputy minister of state security, but in response was confronted with the ministry's demand that the report should be returned because his possession was "unauthorized."
The South African State Security Ministry filed an urgent application in the High Court, alleging that the publication of the report would "affect diplomatic relations between South Africa and the US and endanger national security."
The appellate court, in a fresh decision, disagreed with the ministry's arguments, noting that it "failed to discharge its onus to establish that the publication of the report would endanger national security."
The court added that there is nothing sensitive contained in the report as the information contained in the report was already in the public domain.
The court also revealed some details of the report obtained by Makwakwa.
"The report is about the US Embassy and its intelligence community which were said to be observing the widely reported factions in the ruling party, the ANC to influence domestic policy and shape the US’s own decisions," the ruling said.
According to the report, the embassy also shares the information it receives with the US State Department.