Arthur Fraser is a South African civil servant and former intelligence operative who was head of the State Security Agency from 2016 to 2018 and National Commissioner for Correctional Services from 2018 to 2021.
He was seconded as an investigator to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and subsequently held other operational positions in the intelligence sector,[3][6] ultimately becoming provincial head of the NIA in the Western Cape province from 1998 to 2004.
[6][3] In 2006, after one-and-a half years at Home Affairs, Fraser was reappointed to the NIA to deputise Manala Manzini as Deputy Director-General in charge of offensive and counter-intelligence operations.
[14] In September 2016, Jacob Zuma, then in his second term as President, appointed Fraser as Director-General of the State Security Agency (SSA), which had superseded the NIA in 2009.
[16] The opposition Democratic Alliance objected strongly to his appointment, citing his involvement in various "political intrigue and irregularities", including the alleged leaking of the spy tapes.
Indeed, the commission found that an earlier criminal investigation into Fraser had been halted by the former Minister of State Security, Siyabonga Cwele, "apparently on the instructions of President Zuma".
Fraser overruled the Medical Parole Advisory Board in doing so, according to him because he was concerned about Zuma's age, his status as a former president, the inability of the department to care adequately for him, and the risk of a resurgence of the civil unrest that had followed his initial arrest in 2021.