The National Intelligence Agency has held top-level meetings with South Africa's major metropolitan councils to try to prevent the leaking of sensitive information.

NIA Director-General, Vusi Mavimbela, said the agency had already held meetings with the metros of eThekwini, Cape Town, Tshwane and Johannesburg.

Mavimbela said the NIA had developed an information control mechanism called the Minimum Information Security Standards to clamp down on the leaking of sensitive government information.

"We have been tasked with helping the government to put in place security measures and ensure that strategic information and assets of the state are safe at all levels," he said, adding that it was the NIA's mandate to prevent competing and hostile countries from gaining access to strategic information which was at the disposal of all levels of government.

But the measures have been slammed by the Democratic Alliance. The party's spokesman on intelligence, Brigadier-general Philip Schalkwyk, said he had written a letter of protest to Intelligence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu.

"Residents and ratepayers are being restrained from getting information from municipalities," Schalkwyk said. "T hey should not be restricted from accessing information at local level. There is nothing secret that threatens state security there. "

Last week, the NIA met eThekwini's municipal manager, Mike Sutcliffe, to recommend that the city establish a security committee and appoint a security manager.

"The eThekwini municipality competes to host lucrative events like international conferences," Mavimbela said. "It has hosted the launch of the African Union and obviously these events impact on national security.

"The Durban harbour is a national strategic asset and it must be protected against crime syndicates and international terrorists who could undermine the information security of municipalities and threaten national security.

"We must ensure that, for example, tender procedures are protected against corporate intelligence gathering where other companies use council officials to steal information pertaining to tenders and procurement."

He said municipalities' procurement and tendering policies should be secured against crime organisations that wanted to launder "dirty money".

Sutcliffe confirmed that eThekwini had requested the NIA to conduct an audit of its security measures. He said the municipality spent about R3-billion annually on tenders and procurement and that it was crucial that the flow of information be monitored and secured.

"We asked the NIA to assist us. Some members of staff may well be providing information to outsiders and those with vested interests who aim to subvert municipal policies," he said.

Mavimbela said eThekwini would be the first municipality to implement the Minimum Information Security Standards system.

Cape Town city manager Wallace Mgoqi confirmed that he had held a preliminary meeting with the NIA. "But we have not had a formal presentation on the Minimum Information Security Standards system," he said.

William Baloyi, spokesman for Tshwane Mayor Smangaliso Mkhatshwa, said senior officials were receiving regular briefings from the NIA on issues affecting the city.

"We are the capital of the country and host national government departments and foreign embassies," Baloyi said. "We are at the centre of national security and must be kept well secured."

He said the municipality was waiting for a formal presentation on the NIA system.

Johannesburg Metro spokesman, Khotso Chikane, said the NIA had briefed the head of the city's Metro Police on the security procedures. "We are awaiting a report and recommendations from the head of the Metro Police," he said.

Ekurhuleni Mayor Duma Nkosi said his municipality was waiting for the NIA to brief it on the measures so it could be helped "with developing the checks and balances of information security".

With acknowledgements to Mawande Jubasi and the Sunday Times.