Victory for amaBhungane as court declares mass interception by State 'unlawful and invalid'
16 September 2019
Investigative journalism centre amaBhungane walked out of court victorious on Monday after successfully challenging parts of South Africa's surveillance law, the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (RICA).
The Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg declared mass surveillance and the interception of foreign signals by the National Communications Centre "unlawful and invalid".
The legal battle against RICA started in April 2017 after amaBhungane received confirmation that its managing partner, Sam Sol, had been under surveillance under RICA.
At the time, Sole was investigating a National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decision to drop corruption charges against former president Jacob Zuma.