Following the sentencing of former South African Air Force Brigadier General Portia Anyamba for acting as an unregistered agent of South Africa while working at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), The Tennessee Star’s lead reporter Tom Pappert said the case leaves critical questions unanswered.
Speaking during an appearance Monday on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert pointed to lingering uncertainty surrounding Anyamba’s immigration history, citizenship status, security-clearance eligibility, and how a foreign intelligence asset was able to work inside one of the nation’s most sensitive U.S. Department of Energy facilities before federal investigators intervened.
“It really is one of those stories that you just shake your head at as you’re writing,” Pappert said. “How did this ever even come to be to where we could have an arrest like this?”
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 59-year-old Anyamba pleaded guilty to acting as an agent of the Republic of South Africa and making false statements on a security-clearance application while employed as a Program Management Operational Specialist in ORNL’s National Security Program Office.
Federal investigators determined that Anyamba maintained regular communications with an intelligence officer from South Africa’s State Security Agency (SSA) while simultaneously seeking access to classified information through the federal security-clearance process.
Pappert noted that Anyamba’s military background raises additional questions about her path to employment at ORNL.
“This is a 59-year-old woman from South Africa. She has been here for an indeterminate amount of time, but it’s worth noting that we know she’s from South Africa because the DOJ says that she was a Brigadier General in the South African Air Force,” he said.
“And in order to join the South African Air Force, one must be a citizen of South Africa, a dual citizen of no other nation,” he added.
The Star recently sought information from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security regarding Anyamba’s immigration status, when she entered the U.S., and whether she obtained citizenship through naturalization. Pappert said those inquiries produced few answers.
He said the “million-dollar question” is when Anyamba came to the U.S.
“When I asked DHS a few questions on this subject, I asked, one, when did this person enter the country and how? Two, is this person a naturalized U.S. citizen, and if not, under what conditions were they allowed to remain in the country?” Pappert explained.
He said the agency declined to provide details, citing ongoing matters related to the case.
“I got what is actually a fairly uncommon response from the DHS under the Trump administration. I got a non-response,” Pappert said. “They said that there are still ongoing cases involving or against this person.”
He suggested the continuing investigation could involve a review of Anyamba’s immigration status or potential actions involving her South African intelligence contacts.
Pappert also questioned how Anyamba was able to advance through the federal security-clearance process while maintaining contacts with foreign intelligence personnel.
According to court filings, Anyamba falsely stated on her SF-86 security-clearance application that she had not maintained contact with representatives of foreign governments during the previous seven years. Investigators later determined she had regular communications with an SSA intelligence officer and had instructed references not to discuss her embassy connections during background interviews.
Pappert argued the information ultimately uncovered by investigators appeared readily discoverable once federal authorities began closely reviewing her application.
“Donald Trump became president, and it seems as though everybody in the federal government just woke up from the four or five-year coma that they had been in—from really the beginning of COVID-19 till the moment Joe Biden left office,” Pappert said.
“Because suddenly they were reviewing the applications that Nyambo was submitting in order to obtain a higher security clearance for her job, by the way,” he added.
Pappert further noted that the type of paperwork Anyamba completed could indicate she was not a U.S. citizen at the time.
“The specific document that she was filling out, from my understanding, is primarily filled out by non-U.S. citizens,” he said.
According to the DOJ, FBI agents surveilled meetings between Anyamba and South African intelligence personnel in Knoxville during 2024. Before one planned meeting, an SSA officer instructed Anyamba to bring a laptop computer. Federal agents intercepted Anyamba before the meeting occurred and recovered the laptop from her possession.
Pappert said the facts outlined by prosecutors suggest a significant national-security concern.
“I think this should be a much higher profile. It sounds to me as though we had a serious national security issue,” he said.
Anyamba was sentenced to six months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay a $9,500 fine.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network.
