A former Brigadier General in the South African Air Force has pleaded guilty in the US to one count of acting as an agent of the Republic of South Africa and one count of making false statements in her efforts to obtain a security clearance.
According to a statement from the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee, 59-year-old Portia Anyamba in 2023 and 2024 worked as a Programme Management Operational Specialist in the National Security Programme Office at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, a facility established in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project. The facility developed the first atomic bombs and is currently a US Department of Energy facility dedicated to energy, innovation, and national security, among other things.
The statement says Anyamba regularly communicated with an intelligence officer attached to the South African Embassy in Washington D.C.
The conviction was confirmed on June 18th, but the news has only gained traction this week.
The FBI’s special agent in charge of the investigation Terence Reilley said Anyamba knowingly acted as an agent for a foreign country, which placed US national security at risk.
As part of Anyamba’s plea deal, she was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment followed by two years of supervised release and $9500 fine.
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