South Africa's State Security Agency (SSA) will undergo a significant reduction in staff, with officers aged between 50 and 58 being offered voluntary redundancy payments or facing dismissal, a source told local media, referring to the report on the meeting between South Africa's Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni and SSA leadership.
This decision comes amid the government's dissatisfaction with the agency's performance and a possible effort to remove personnel linked to former President Jacob Zuma, whose allies are suspected of leaking sensitive information, according to the report.
Moreover, Zuma has been recently expelled from the ruling African National Congress party over a disciplinary issue, a statement by the party said.