Its role changed through the prime ministerships of John Vorster and PW Botha (later State President), being little used during the former's and during the latter's, controlling all aspects of South African public's lives by becoming the Cabinet.
After FW de Klerk's rise to the role of State President, the Cabinet would eventually regain control of the management of the country.
[4]: 192 In October 1974, Vorster initiated a foreign policy of "Détente" seeking support for a constellation of Southern African states who would be a united front against a common enemy, communism.
The use of white buffers states began to fail in 1974 with a coup in Portugal, known as the Carnation Revolution, and by 1975 African nationalist groups were in control of its colonies of Angola and Mozambique.
[4]: 191 In 1977, a Defence White Paper was published and outlined the Total Strategy Plan that would later be implemented and dominate the PW Botha years.
[6] Vorster was appointed as State President on 10 October but would resign in May 1979 when the results of the Erasmus Commission of Inquiry into the Information Scandal were released in that year.
[6] With the rise of PW Botha to prime minister, so the SADF's power increase in cabinet and with that the Directorate Military Intelligence (DMI), who would strive to dominate security issues in the new government and decide its policy and implementation.
[2]: Chp8 PW Botha had decided to split the intelligence gathering ability of South Africa amongst four agencies, the DMI, BOSS/DONS, Security Branch and Foreign Affairs, hoping to reduce the political dominance by one over the others, but the rivalry would continue.
[2]: Chp4 On 12 February 1979, the State Security Council issued guidelines for who could authorize five types of external operations by South African forces.
[7]: 136 In Mozambique, it meant the building up RENAMO, created by the Rhodesians in opposition to the Mozambican government, and under SADF control by 1980, managed by the DMI's Directorate of Special Tasks.
[2]: Chp4 By 1985, the South African government realized that its 1983 Tricameral Parliament and its new constitution was a failure as it left out black representation and was responsible for the loss of control of the large townships in the Vaal Triangle and the Eastern Cape to the ANC and its revolutionary struggle.
[7]: 249 On 21 July 1985, PW Bothas declared a State of Emergency to counter the violence in magisterial districts representing one-third of the country.
[2]: Chp7 PW Botha delivered his Rubicon speech to the world on 15 August 1985 that failed to announce the release of Nelson Mandela and the end of Apartheid, rather continuing the current policy.
[2]: Chp7 The negative speech had serious financial implications with a drop in the value of the Rand and the reduction of international loans, caused the SSC to realize that the Total Onslaught was not just by communist forces but also had a component of Western hostility.
[7]: 222 This resulted in the formation of the Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB) with the front company was launched by the South African Special Forces that May.
[2]: Chp4 It had a number of sub-committees: Covert Collection (later called TREWITS), Open Information Gathering, Technical, Evaluation (later became NIIB), Counter Espionage and Security Intelligence.
[11] Such action included assassination of people opposed to the apartheid government's policies, and the widespread use of abduction, arson, sabotage and torture.
[2]: Chp4 Information would move back and forth from the lowest levels to the JMC, then SSC, its working committee and finally the cabinets and prime minister or state president.
The following seven components made up each Joint Management Centres and were replicated to a large extent in the lower levels of the Sub and Mini JMC's and was itself similar to the State Security Council's structure:[2]: Chp4 PW Botha suffered a stroke in January 1989 and by 14 August 1989 he had resigned due to ill health.
[14]: 429 Judicial commissions of inquiries and investigations begun into the SAP and DMI as well as the use of third forces and death squads which resulted in the suspension of the CCB in February 1990 and its dismantling in July of the same year.
The Guardian quoted de Klerk as replying that although he was a member of the cabinet it was not briefed "on clandestine operations involving murders, assassinations or the like – all of which were evidently carried out strictly on a 'need to know' basis".
[16] The same newspaper report alleged that, in his last months as president in 1994, de Klerk ordered the wholesale shredding and incineration of tons of documents, microfilm and computer tapes that dealt with matters such as the chain of command in covert operations.
[17] The TEC would essentially run the country until the election and was made up of seven sub-committees, composed of members of the negotiating political parties, with one of those committees responsible for intelligence.
Botha and held him responsible for gross human rights violations, including all violence sanctioned by the State Security Council.
[19]The TRC also found that the SSC had contributed to the prevailing culture of impunity by failing to recommend that action be taken against those members of the security forces who were involved in gross human rights violations.
The investigation was unable to prove an allegation that South Africa was behind the Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 air disaster, but the TRC stated in its report: South Africa's State Security Council (SSC) minutes from January 1984 indicate that the Mozambican working group, including General Jac Buchner and Major Craig Williamson, discussed how to help RENAMO overthrow the FRELIMO government of Mozambique.