Between 1969 and 1981, the department was of an ad hoc nature with staff drawn mainly from Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the military wing of the ANC. During those years the departments role was one of security and counter-intelligence. In 1981 a new head of the Department of National Intelligence and Security was sought, based in Lusaka, Zambia with the job offered to Mzwai Piliso, the man responsible for setting up the ANC camps in Angola after 1975 and which housed the recruits who fled South Africa after 1976 Soweto riots. His deputy and Intelligence head would be Peter Boroko (aka Peter Lesego Tshikare), the head of Security was Reddy Mazimba (aka Reddy Mampane) and the head of Administration was Sizakele Sigxashe. From 1981, the staffing was formalised with training in intelligence taking place in the Soviet Union, East Germany, Libya and Zimbabwe.