Former SSA counterintelligence head Thulani Dlomo appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court after being arrested over an alleged R12 million fraud scheme.

• Ex-SSA counterintelligence chief Thulani Dlomo and project manager Patrick Mshothola were arrested on charges of theft, fraud, and forgery amounting to R12 million.
• They appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court where they were granted R20 000 bail each with strict conditions.
• Dlomo, who was dismissed from the SSA in 2019, has a controversial history marked by allegations of rogue intelligence operations and protecting former President Jacob Zuma.

Former head of the State Security Agency’s (SSA) counterintelligence structures Thulani Dlomo and former project manager Patrick Mshothola have been arrested on charges relating to the misappropriation of state funds.

The pair appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Monday after being apprehended on Sunday by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) of the National Prosecuting Authority.

They face charges of theft, fraud, forgery and uttering amounting to approximately R12 million.

According to IDAC spokesperson Henry Mamothame, the two were granted bail of R20 000 each, subject to stringent conditions.

“The conditions include surrendering their travel documents to the State, not interfering with State witnesses, reporting to their respective police stations every Friday between 08:00 and 16:00, and they are prohibited from disposing of their immovable properties,” said Mamothame.

READ | Zuma’s spy Thulani Dlomo falls on hard times with mounting debt and a R4.1m SARS judgment

Mshothola acted as project manager on various projects within the chief directorate special operations.

Dlomo, who had served as South Africa’s ambassador to Japan, was appointed to head up the SSA’s special operations unit (SOU) in 2012, before later being appointed as head of counterintelligence in the domestic branch of the SSA.

At the time of his SOU position, he told colleagues he reported directly to former president Jacob Zuma, earning him the label “Zuma’s spy”, a term he previously rebuked.

Dlomo, accused of plundering the agency’s coffers, establishing a parallel intelligence structure to protect Zuma, and heading up rogue operations, was dismissed from the SSA in 2019 for effectively going AWOL for several months, despite being told to report for duty.

READ | SSA DECLASSIFIED: Thulani Dlomo's private armoury, and the gun he gave his cousin

He approached the Gauteng High Court in Pretoria to challenge his dismissal but was unsuccessful.

A high-level panel led by Sydney Mufamadi and tasked with investigating the rot at the intelligence agency, found, with Dlomo at the centre, the SSA:

In the State Capture Commission report, Chief Justice Raymond Zondo said: “The Special Operations Unit [SOU] of the SSA, particularly under the direction of Ambassador Thulani Dlomo, was a law unto itself, launching many projects that operated illegally...”

Dlomo and Mshothola’s case has been postponed to 26 January 2026 for disclosure and the securing of a high court date.