Between 1969 and 1981 , the department was of an ad hoc nature with staff drawn mainly from Umkhonto we Sizwe ( MK ) , the military wing of the ANC . During those years the departments role was one of security and counter-intelligence . In 1981 a new head of the Department of National Intelligence and Security was sought , based in Lusaka , Zambia with the job offered to Mzwai Piliso , the man responsible for setting up the ANC camps in Angola after 1975 and which housed the recruits who fled South Africa after 1976 Soweto riots . His deputy and Intelligence head would be Peter Boroko ( aka Peter Lesego Tshikare ) , the head of Security was Reddy Mazimba ( aka Reddy Mampane ) and the head of Administration was Sizakele Sigxashe . From 1981 , the staffing was formalised with training in intelligence taking place in the Soviet Union , East Germany , Libya and Zimbabwe
1976 Soweto riots
Soweto uprising
Department of National Intelligence and Security (South Africa)