Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Deputy President Jacob Zuma says the days of the intelligence services being associated with brutal interrogation and violence are long gone.

He says the profession has now become the center of government.

Mr Zuma was speaking at the official launch of the South African National Academy of Intelligence in Mafikeng, North West today.

'Inteligence in South Africa is no longer the euphemism for dirty tricks under a heavy veil of secrecy ... but act in a special way as a security advisor to government by providing adequate information and early warnings on obstacles facing government,' he said.

He added that no government decision ought to be taken without the implications thoroughly taken into account.

'If accepted as a key principle between government and the intelligence services, the challenge is that if intelligence services is in the center of government, it means that intelligence services must be correct and scientifically accurate,' said the self confessed ardent former practitioner of the profession.

The academy, which was renamed after the late ANC stalwart Mzwandile Piliso, will take 50 students at a time including some of its staffers. Mr Piliso died in 1996 at the age of 72.

Previously called Khupe Campus, Intelligence minister Lindiwe Sisulu closed the previous academy two years ago, to allow for restructuring and refocusing of the intelligence department's training responsibility.

Late last year, the SANAI was established as a public entity to provide training to members of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), the South African Secret Service and related structures such as the National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee (NICOC) and the Presidential Support Unit.

Training on national strategic intelligence will also be provided to the intelligence components of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and the South African Police Service (SAPS).

The academy comprises a vocational and a research component and plans are underway to develop the structure into an institution of higher learning.

The occasion was graced by minister Sisulu, North West premier Popo Molefe and former intelligence minister Joe Nhlanhla.