The Right2Know Campaign, Privacy International and the Legal Resources Centre welcome the Gauteng High Court ruling that parts of South Africa’s surveillance law, RICA, are unconstitutional and invalid.
16 September 2019
The case was brought by amaBungane Centre for Investigative Journalism after confirming that security officials had spied on the communications of one of its journalists (see 2017 statement here).
R2K and Privacy International represented by the Legal Resources Centre joined the amaBhungane's RICA challenge as amici curiae (friends of the court).
There is a growing body of evidence of surveillance abuses in South Africa. In July 2018, R2K published a report on surveillance of journalists in South Africa. An inquiry into the State Security Agency launched by President Cyril Ramaphosa found widespread corruption and criminality in the SSA, and evidence that civil society organisations had been spied on (see the panel’s report here).
We are elated by today’s judgment found RICA to be inconsistent with the Constitution, with the effect of: