Freedom House Security V iolent attacks on individuals are the most blatant manifestation of transnational repression, but it also violates people’s rights more broadly. South Africa’s security apparatus bears partial responsibility for addressing the threat that transnational repression poses to individual and national security. However, the government’s security response suffers from an acute lack of both capacity and political will. Authorities demonstrate some awareness of transnational repression, but broader insecurity, problems with policing, and conflicting foreign policy goals contribute to gaps in South Africa’s ability and willingness to hold perpetrators of transnational repression accountable. Insecurity and underlying problems with policing Domestic security challenges overshadow extraterritorial threats in South Africa. The State Security Agency (SSA), which is responsible for domestic and foreign threats to national security, lists terrorism, sabotage, subversion, espionage, and organized crime among its national security priorities; specific mention of foreign state activities is absent.8 Police and security forces are particularly preoccupied by violent crime. Insecurity obscures transnational repression, and responding to it can be more challenging when the criminal justice system is overwhelmed by other complaints. The 2021 murder of Rwandan opposition politician Seif Bamporiki illustrates this problem. Bamporiki, an RNC official, was shot dead in Cape Town while delivering a bed to a client. He was killed in a neighborhood with high rates of violent crime and the following day South African police described the killing as a robbery.9 However, numerous details cast doubt on this assessment: RNC members are among those most aggressively targeted by the Rwandan government, the client reportedly pursued Bamporiki’s service for some time and specifically requested that he make the delivery, the man in the truck with Bamporiki was uninjured, and the assailants reportedly used a silencer, which is unusual in armed robberies.10 High rates of violent crime may provide convenient cover for transnational repression and reduce the likelihood that authorities devote additional scrutiny to potential incidents. Structural problems also render South Africa’s security system ill-equipped to prevent and respond to transnational repression. Information sharing between South African security and intelligence services is handled inconsistently,11 despite the existence of some information sharing structures, such as the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee.12 Ad hoc information sharing risks omission, lack of follow-up, and an inability to alert the relevant parts of the government to potential cases of transnational repression. Likewise, outreach to diaspora and vulnerable groups is not systematized and law enforcement is not trained to respond to transnational repression. High rates of violent crime provide cover for transnational repression and reduce the likelihood that authorities investigate potential incidents. The poor relationship between police and communities also contributes to an environment conducive to transnational repression. Corruption is endemic in South African policing,13 which can expose vulnerable individuals to greater risk. In one recent example concerning a plot by Swazi government officials to assassinate exiled journalist Zweli Martin Dlamini in South Africa, clandestine recordings captured Swazi General Jeffrey Shabalala seeming to suggest that the government would bribe or compensate South African intelligence agents who shared Dlamini’s location. (The recordings’ release appeared to have halted the plans against Dlamini.)14 While creating new mechanisms for reporting incidents of transnational repression, improving information sharing across government agencies, and training law enforcement would address acute gaps in South Africa’s handling of threats posed by foreign governments, those steps would ultimately have limited impact unless underlying problems in South African law enforcement were also addressed. A history of violence, corruption, and xenophobia leaves a legacy of fear of and lack of trust in South African police, making it less likely that individuals will report concerns about transnational repression to law enforcement.15 Still more potential targets might be disincentivized freedomhouse.org 3