Niel Barnard

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Lukas Daniel Barnard , also Niël Barnard (born June 14, 1949 in Otjiwarongo , South West Africa ) is a South African political scientist and former head of the NIS intelligence service . During the presidency of Frederik Willem de Klerk , Barnard developed into a pioneer for the release of Nelson Mandela and, in the course of the Codesa negotiations, became a leading actor in the emerging democratization process in South Africa.

Life

Childhood and youth

Niel Barnard spent his childhood in the family of the school inspector Nicolaas Evehardus Barnard and his wife Magdalena Catharina (née Beukes). Together with three other brothers, he was the second child of his parents, Barnard grew up in South West Africa. In 1967, he passed the exams for his Matric in his birthplace and then did military service in Kimberley .

academic career

At the Universiteit van die Oranje-Vrystaat (UOVS) in Bloemfontein , Barnard obtained his first academic degree, a bachelor's degree in the fields of politics and history. He obtained his master's degree in 1972 with a thesis on a modern theoretical approach to international relations ( afrikaans : Moderne teoretiese benaderings van internasionale verhoudinge ).

Barnard completed his university education in 1973 at the UOVS with a dissertation entitled “ The Power Factor in International Relations ” (Afrikaans: Die Mags Faktor in Internasionale Verhoudinge ; English: The Power Factor in International Relations ). With this work he obtained his Ph.D. in political science , as a result of which Barnard was active as a lecturer in this field of science at his alma mater . In 1977 he was promoted to Senior Lecturer and with effect from January 1, 1978 he was appointed to the Chair of Political Studies. In the same year of his appointment in Johannesburg he published a university publication with the title Conflicts en order in internasionale verhoudinge (German roughly: "Conflict and rule in international relations"). Barnard also dealt with aspects of the deterrent potential of nuclear weapons . This was followed by work on the threat to the apartheid state at the time , on foreign diplomatic strategies against the prevailing state doctrine in South Africa and on the situation in Angola during the Cold War .

In 1979, Barnard spent six months in the United States on a research project on nuclear strategy . During this stay he worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University .

During his time at Bloemfontein University, Barnard was part of the Free State Command and supported a commission to investigate security legislation in the late 1970s.

Intelligence career

In November 1979, Prime Minister Pieter Willem Botha announced that Niel Barnard would follow the previous Director-General of the Department of National Security (DONS), Alexander van Wyk, after his resignation during the information scandal of 1977-79. This decision sparked a controversial discussion because Barnard was only 30 years old at the time and he also lacked professional intelligence experience. Botha and Barnard had never met before.

When Niel Barnard was appointed Director General of the Intelligence Service, he was renamed the National Intelligence Service (NIS). In addition to numerous other tasks, this authority was responsible for coordinating the security services activities in South Africa. This now resulted in a progressive cooperation with the military intelligence service ( Military Intelligence division ) and the security branch of SAP , which in turn had close ties to the then foreign ministry. The new organizational instrument for this purpose was the Co-ordinating Intelligence Committee (CIC) under his leadership.

During Botha's term of office as South African President (1984–1989), Niel Barnard was a member of the State Security Council (SSC) and was therefore able to influence the National Security Management System controlled by the SSC . When this security structure was transformed into the National Co-ordinating Mechanism (NCM) in December 1989 , Barnard took over the leadership of a committee for national security.

In a conversation held on December 2, 1985 between Niel Barnard and the PFP boss Frederik van Zyl Slabbert , the party leader warned the intelligence service of the “advancing decline in the internal and external situation in the country”. According to Slabbert, an initiative to defuse the unrest and end the "ongoing game" would be necessary. In his opinion, this requires a “political package” that should result in the repeal of all apartheid laws, the restoration of civil society organizations regardless of their ethnic group, the release of Nelson Mandela and all other political prisoners, and the legalization of the ANC . The security forces must clarify the current situation and discipline in the services must be maintained. Slabbert emphasized that the lack of discipline in the police at this time was an enormous problem and that he could not propose a plan of action for this situation himself, but saw the future of the country in danger. He reported to the NIS chief about the broken relationship between the white and colored population in the western part of the Cape Province , about police excesses in the eastern part (later Eastern Cape ) and about the precarious situation of children and adolescents in prisons. Slabbert complained about right-wing extremist tendencies in parts of the security forces, which, in his opinion, were caused by bureaucratic problems in the state power structure. His notes on this conversation with Neil Barnard were published in March 1986.

Slabbert's demands for a “political package” of reforms coincided largely with a law passed by the US Congress in October 1986 , the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 1986 (US President Ronald Reagan ).

Between 1988 and 1989 Barnard played a key role in peace negotiations for Namibia and Angola. He also took part in talks in Brazzaville and New York .

The first secret government meetings with Mandela in 1988 and prior to his release were prepared and directed by Neil Barnard. Together with Justice Minister Hendrik Jacobus Coetsee , Barnard met Nelson Mandela several times in Pollsmoor Prison for talks, which ultimately resulted in the 1990 release of Mandela and the lifting of the bans on many opposition groups.

Before the Truth and Reconciliation Commission , Barnard testified in 1997 that the NIS was one of the most well-organized intelligence services in the world. He justified this assessment u. a. with extensive training for NIS employees at the National Intelligence Academy .

Activities according to the NIS

When the De Klerk government's negotiations with the ANC consolidated in 1991 , Neil Barnard was able to play an active role in the background. His commitment in this regard revealed in 1992 that he was involved in the Codesa negotiation process as an official government representative. The leadership role at the top of the NIS ended on January 31, 1992.

On February 1, 1992 Barnard took over the management of the Constitutional Development Service (German: "Bureau for Constitutional Development ") in the Ministry for Provincial Affairs and Constitutional Development under Roelf Meyer . So he continued to hold a position within the South African government, now with the rank of Director General (for example: permanent state secretary ). He held this position until November 30, 1996.

Barnard later moved to the administration of the Western Cape Province , where he headed the provincial administration as the highest non-political representative with the rank of Director General of the Provincial Administration of the Province of the Western Cape . He held this position from December 1, 1996 to January 31, 2002.

Even after the end of this administrative career, Barnard was available within the provincial administration on security aspects, especially on counter-espionage questions , representatives of the provincial government and officials of the National Intelligence Agency . From 2002 to 2012 Neil Barnard worked as CEO of Bernhardt Holdings in Cape Town, which is a consulting company with services on Africa-specific topics.

Niel Barnard founded a service company in 2009 called Kalliston (PTY) Ltd. , whose headquarters are in the Cape Town district of Bellville . In 2012, the State Security Agency (SSA) and closed Kalliston a three-year contract with an annual base fee of 17.4 million Rand . A spokesman for the intelligence service refused to give a statement about the content of the orders for Barnard's company when asked by Mail & Guardian . Kalliston offers services with an intelligence background. President Jacob Zuma , with the support of his then Minister of State Security David Mahlobo, is said to have expanded the contractual framework at a meeting with Barnard in August 2014. Since 2016, disagreements between the contracting parties on this issue have turned into a legal dispute, as the SSA terminated the contract, but President Zuma is said to have continued and expanded it in the aforementioned conversation. The company sued for contract fulfillment, which brought some aspects to the public. Overall, the order processing involved research and reports on developments in the areas of climate change and food, water and energy security. The results were incorporated into analyzes on the redistribution of land and for increasing the competitiveness of South Africa in agriculture.

Private

Niel Barnard is married to Engela Brand. Both have three sons together. Barnard lives in a northern part of Cape Town .

Selected works

  • Modern theory benaderings van internasionale verhoudinge . Bloemfontein 1973
  • The maging factor in internasionale verhoudinge . Bloemfontein 1975
  • The role of national intelligence in international relations . 1983 to 1984 (several articles)
  • Publieke administrasie en the state-literate promising proses in South Africa . In: Acta varia . Publication Committee van die Universiteit van die Oranje-Vrystaat, 1992, 5, 10 pp. ISBN 0-86886-479-X
  • Secret Revolution. Memoirs of a Spy Boss . Tafelberg, Cape Town 2015, ISBN 9780624074571 (autobiography) also appeared on Afrikaans: Geheime Revolusie: Memoires van 'n Spioenbaas

swell

  • Shelagh Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics, Number 4 . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1992, pp. 6-7

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Nicolas Champeaux, Niel Barnard: Niel Barnard: “Il pouvait aussi se montrer intransigeant et se mettre en colère, ce n'était pas un ange” . Interview with Niel Barnard at RFI, on www.rfi.fr (with picture of his passport)
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Gastrow, 1992, pp. 6-7.
  3. ↑ Nelson Mandela Center of Memory: Interview: Nov 18, 1999: Dommisse, Ebbe . at www.nelsonmandela.org (English) Interviewer: Padraig O'Malley, person interviewed: Ebbe Dommisse, former editor-in-chief of Die Burger
  4. ↑ Shelag Gastrow: Who's Who in South African politics, Number 3 . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1990, pp. 12-13
  5. ↑ Niël Barnard: Secret Revolution. Memoirs of a Spy Boss . Tafelberg, 2015, p. 51 ISBN 9780624074571
  6. ↑ SAIRR : Race Relations Survey 1985 , Johannesburg 1986, pp. 464-465
  7. ^ SAIRR: Race Relations Survey 1986, Part 1 . Johannesburg 1987, p. 69
  8. ^ Mac Maharaj : The ANC and South Africa's Negotiated Transition to Democracy and Peace . Berghof Transitions Series No. 2, online at www.berghof-foundation.org, PDF document p. 17 (English) ISBN 978-3-927783-88-1
  9. ^ TRC: State Security Council. December 4, 1997, Cape Town . on www.justice.gov.za (English)
  10. ^ A b c Province of the Western Cape: Establishment of the Desai Commission . on www.westerncape.gov.za, PDF document p. 5 and 122 (English)
  11. ↑ Shelag Gastrow: Who's Who in South African Politics, Number 5 . Ravan Press, Johannesburg 1995 pp. Xxiii
  12. ^ TRC : Truth and Reconciliation Commission: State Security Council. December 4, 1997. Cape Town . on www.justice.gov.za (English)
  13. ^ Province of the Western Cape: Establishment of the Desai Commission . on www.westerncape.gov.za, PDF document p. 127 ff. (English)
  14. ↑ Edward Louis Mienie: South Africa's paradox: A Case Study of Latent State Fragility . Dissertation, Kennesaw State University , Kennesaw, 2014, online at www.digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu, PDF document p. 300 (English)
  15. ↑ D&B Hoovers: Entry at D&B Hoovers . (English)
  16. ↑ Ra'eesa Pather: JZ's deal with apartheid spymaster . Article in Mail & Guardian of November 23, 2018 at www.mg.co.za (English)
  17. ^ Province of the Western Cape: Establishment of the Desai Commission . on www.westerncape.gov.za, PDF document p. 5 and 122 (English)
  18. ↑ a b c d OCLC Online Computer Library Center: Biographical Evidence L. D Barnard . on www.worldcat.org (English, Afrikaans)
personal data
SURNAME Barnard, Niel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barnard, Lukas Daniel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION South African politician
DATE OF BIRTH June 14, 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Otjiwarongo , South West Africa