Policymakers and regulators have justified the registration of SIM cards laws on the grounds that they assist in preventing and detecting crime, but the laws have proved to be less effective than initially envisioned, as the growing number of unregistered SIMs have made it a significant obstacle, rather than a useful tool for criminal investigations.
Registration schemes can be easily circumvented by people engaging in crime, who use fake identification, or register a SIM card in another person’s name. It is even possible to not register a SIM card at all.
It took a quick trip to the inner city of Johannesburg for Business Report to determine how easy it was to buy unregistered SIM cards in South Africa. It cost a mere R75 for us to buy two Cell C, Telkom, Vodacom and MTN branded SIMs across various spaza shops and street vendors. The cost varied between R5-R20.
It should be noted that at no point during the buying process did any shopkeeper ask Business Report for any form of paperwork.
According to the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication‑Related Information Act (Rica) a SIM card purchased in South Africa to be used in any mobile device needs to be registered by an approved agent. The intent behind the legislation was for law enforcement agencies to be able to identify a cellphone number that was used in any illegal act.
But police sources, who are not authorised to speak with the media, stationed at various precincts around inner city Johannesburg told Business Report that many local SIM cards continue to be used by criminals, and confirmed that many of the offenders operate from informal stores or spaza shops, adding that illegal cards are even being sold by legitimate resellers.
But due to the sheer scale of SIM card usage, mobile operators simply have no choice to outsource the function to its networks of distributors.
The law requires a buyer to produce both proof of identification and residence when purchasing and registering a SIM card. This can include an ID document or passport, and for proof of residence, a bank statement, a municipal account, or even a signed letter from a local church or school.
To boot, Rica does not require the agents to keep copies of these documents after viewing them.
Rica agents simply have to rely on the training and the database they receive from distributors or the mobile operators to identify false documents.
Byron Kennedy, a Vodacom spokesperson confirms that Rica agents are provided with training in order to ensure that they are aware of how to conduct Rica registrations, and to ensure that no fraud is committed, adding that there are agreements in place between Vodacom and its trading partners that governs the process.
“Vodacom has rigorous audit trails to ensure Rica compliance by its dealers / trade partners,” he adds.
But where Rica goes from there does not need police clearance or a job application and any citizen both foreign and fair may act in this capacity. And just like a subscriber, all that is required is a proof of residence and identity.
So, the accuracy thereof relies solely on the honesty of the subscriber and the Rica agent.
Strictly speaking, the service providers do not have unrestricted access to even their own databases. The information can only be accessed through a court order, strictly for law enforcement purposes, and only service provider personnel vetted by the State Security Agency are allowed access to it.
Graham De Vries, the chief of Regulatory and Legal Affairs at MTN SA, says mobile operators are already doing a lot to ensure compliance from running algorithms to conducting spot checks, but says it remains a difficult exercise.
“A gaping hole in Rica is that it is not catching all the routes to market in its legislative net. Laws need to apply more closely to distributors and agents of SIM cards at the grassroots level, and as close to the subscriber as possible,” he said.
The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development, who oversees this piece of legislation, however remains adamant that the buck stops with mobile operators.
“Various instances of non-compliance with the SIM-card registration, however, have been referred to the SA Police Service for investigation,” he adds.
Consumers are buying data and airtime and have to access the network, and each SIM card has a specific id number, not the telephone number, call for free. If you are benefiting from crime, which essentially a crime, you cannot profit from it. They should have a record of who is accessing their networks. Mobile operators have the most power to do this. Second hand phones.
Ahmore Burger-Smidt, the head of the data privacy practice and cybercrime practice at Werksmans Advisory Services, says, “You can train and contract with whomever you want, but if they don’t keep their side of the bargain, the trust relationship is null and void.
“All you can do is monitor them, but it is impossible to cover a distribution market that stretches between rural areas to informal traders, who buy and sell anything from SIM cards, to airtime to mobile devices, she says.
Meanwhile, linking biometric data to SIM cards has been proposed by the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa). In March the regulator published a notice to amend the Numbering Plan Regulations, proposing that all South Africans provide their biometric data to mobile service providers to obtain a new cellphone number or action a SIM swap.
According to Icasa spokesperson, Zanele Ntuli, the Authority subsequently held public hearings on the proposed amendments at the end of March, and is currently deliberating on the submissions received from stakeholders. "We will base our conclusions, based on the rational deduced from these submissions,“ she says.
BUSINESS REPORT