Stupidest Law Ever Passed 7
The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Amendment Bill (RICA) was passed by the National Assembly yesterday. We’ve spoken about this law before. It is quite simply one of the worst pieces of legislation ever passed by government.
It’s intended purpose is to fight crime by registering every cellphone SIM card in use in the country. That’s at least 30 million cellphones of which I would bet 70% are pre-paid users although I would not be surprised if that percentage is higher. And it needs to be done within a year, which is close to impossible.
Any criminal with two brain cells to rub together will be able to circumvent this law in about 5 minutes. All it takes is a street person with a valid ID book and a bottle of cheap brandy. That of course assumes that said criminal does not have a fake ID in the first place. Meanwhile every other citizen in this country will have to register their phone or risk being cut off.
The terrible thing about this law is that millions of the poor and disadvantaged in South Africa rely on cellular telephones as their primary telecommunications means mainly due to Telkom refusing to service low income and rural areas, in contravention of their licensing agreement (but that’s a whole other story). If they are cut off it just makes their lives increasingly difficult. Who is going to employ you when you don’t have a reliable means of contact?
What’s really going to make the enforcement of this law really fun is that tourists and foreigners will have to register SIM cards in phones they bring into the country and because we use a GSM network a large chunk of European tourists bring their own phones when they visit. What’s better than standing in a half hour line at customs? Why standing in another 30 minute line to register your phone straight afterwards. With the volumes of people expected in 2010 for the World Cup there are going to be some flaring tempers at OR Tambo International Airport.
This law really is stupid and I have a hard time believing it will have any affect on crime. Actually scratch that, I know it will not have any effect.
Nonsense. It’s a great law. An excellent law. Who better than government to register cell phones to prevent crime?
Look at cars. They never get stolen and always get found. Why? Because they’re properly registered and anyone whose car isn’t licensed gets it impounded.
There should be another law for registering wallets. That would solve this crime problem once and for all.
Let’s not be giving anyone ideas.
At least not for free…
This all besides the fact that it gives the government more information about us – what happened to a bit of freedom?
I totally agree. Any crime combating kick-offs from this is marginal at best. Although alot of the theory sounds good, the government really has no business in using cell phones to track people or their conversations. Privacy is a good thing still these days.
Quite right – it will not stop crime. This is simply another attempt to control people, to gather information for nefarious purposes.
You will not be comforted to know that the British government are doing much the same thing with their push to foist (very expensive) ID cards on us. These will have a mass of personal data on them and are, i.m.n.s.h.o, an infringement of personal rights. The big reason for them? Stopping crime / terrorism.
As a sop to the No2ID movement and others opposed to the legislation, you will not have to get one. However, no ID card, no passport.
We are living in an increasingly oppressive and undemocratic world.
Pah! Empty threats! Remember, our authorities don’t have the ‘capacity’ to do anything right; why, they’ve admitted as much.
As a matter of interest, Inyoka: what kind of “nefarious purposes” do you have in mind? Bad-mouthing the government perhaps? We do have free speech in this country, you know, and we’re making the fullest use of it.
Hex : Yea, I can see the whole country being without cellphones for about as long as we’ve been without the lotto because of this lack of ‘capacity’, mental or otherwise.