Victory for journalists as Constitutional Court declares parts of RICA unconstitutional
The Constitutional Court has ruled parts of the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act (RICA) as unconstitutional.
Justice Mbuyiseli Mandlanga handed down the majority judgment on Thursday morning, ruling in favour of the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism.
It confirms an earlier ruling by the High Court in Johannesburg.
“RICA is thus unconstitutional to the extent that it fails to provide for adequate safeguards for independent judicial authorisation of interception,” Madlanga said.
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“RICA is thus unconstitutional to the extent that when the intended subject of surveillance is a practising lawyer or a journalist, it fails to provide for additional safeguards calculated to minimise the risk of infringement of the confidentiality of practicing lawyers and client communications and journalist’s sources.”
The ruling by the apex court is seen as a huge victory for the country’s journalists, as the current RICA law permits the interception of people’s communications by authorised state officials like the State Security Agency (SSA) and the police.
In 2017, it was confirmed that AmaBhungane’s Sam Sole had been under surveillance through RICA when he was investigating the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) decision to drop charges against former president Jacob Zuma.
