
Durban - The Right2Know Campaign, Privacy International, and the Legal Resources Centre have welcomed the Gauteng High Court ruling on Monday that said parts of South Africa’s surveillance law, RICA, were unconstitutional and invalid.
The case was brought by the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism after confirming that security officials had spied on the communications of one of its journalists.
R2K and Privacy International, represented by the Legal Resources Centre, joined amaBhungane's RICA challenge as amici curiae (friends of the court).
R2K said on Monday night that there was 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."