by: Chuoling Chen

update: Feb 27, 2015 08:57 GMT+8

Intelligence leak undermines South African government's image

The recent leak of intelligence documents has brought an unprecedented reputation crisis to the South African government and greatly damaged its image, experts said on Thursday.

Somadoda Fikeni, adviser to the principal of the University of South Africa, told China Central Television (CCTV) that the intelligence leak, reported by Al Jazeera on Monday, could hurt the credibility of the nation's intelligence service.

"We do not know the full extent of the information and the one that is still remaining, but the key thing, though, is that it may embarrass (the) South African government in a sense of showing weaknesses in their system," he said.

Noting that the incident reveals holes in the government's security measures, Fikeni said an investigation is needed to determine who may be responsible for such an embarrassing leak.

"And, then they (can) go back to improve their security system, their counter-intelligence system, so that they can quickly spot these things when they do happen," he said.

After the incident, the South African government on Wednesday posted online a brief statement saying the government will thoroughly investigate the leak, but South Africa's State Security Agency has yet to comment.