Spy Cables

The Spy Cables are a series of leaked documents from global intelligence agencies that were published by Al Jazeera and The Guardian in 2015. The documents date from 2006 to December 2014 and are largely derived from communications between South Africa's State Security Agency and various agencies.^[1][2] Agencies included in the leaks include Israel's Mossad, Russia's FSB, and agencies from France, Jordan, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom's Secret Intelligence Service, the United States, and countries in Africa.^[2]

In one of its reports based on the document cache, Al Jazeera exposed that there are more than 140 foreign spies operating in South Africa and that these have gained access to government departments including the president's office, nuclear facilities, and military secrets.^[3] The report said that citizens, civil servants and diplomats are helping the spies "by unwittingly providing them with classified information or by allowing them access to restricted areas."^[3]