{"id":767782,"date":"2024-04-12T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-12T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=767782"},"modified":"2024-04-12T13:42:09","modified_gmt":"2024-04-12T11:42:09","slug":"south-africas-new-spy-bill-still-raising-red-flags","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/767782\/south-africas-new-spy-bill-still-raising-red-flags\/","title":{"rendered":"South Africa&#8217;s new &#8216;spy bill&#8217; still raising red flags"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.parliament.gov.za\/storage\/app\/media\/Bills\/2023\/B40_2023_General_Intelligence_Laws_Bill\/B40_2023_General_Intelligence_Laws_Bill.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill<\/a> (GILAB) that is currently sitting in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) is set to undergo another process of public participation &#8211; but civil society groups are worried that crucial suggestions will fall on deaf ears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bill, passed by the National Assembly on 26 March 2024, is aimed at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/south-africas-intelligence-agency-needs-speedy-reform-or-it-must-be-shut-down-200386\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">countering the erosion of the country\u2019s State Security Agency<\/a>\u00a0(SSA) by overhauling it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Despite several revisions to the controversial GILAB, it &#8220;still fails to address its stated aim: to rectify the legal conditions that enabled deeply rooted malfeasance within the SSA and contributed significantly to intelligence services interfering in politics and enabling state capture,&#8221; according to the Campaign for Free Expression (CFE) and Intelwatch (IW).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While the third iteration of the bill is said to have improved from the first two versions, numerous pressing issues remain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Despite important gains, the new General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill fails to safeguard against a second state capture,&#8221; said the groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These identified issues in the GILAB include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Security vetting;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mass interception of communications;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A failure to address theft from and mismanagement of secret slush funds;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Office of the Inspector-General of Intelligence;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Broad definitions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-wp-embed is-provider-businesstech wp-block-embed-businesstech\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"HDZXFCJ7W2\"><a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/751554\/experts-sound-the-alarm-over-south-africas-new-spy-bill\/\">Experts sound the alarm over South Africa&#8217;s new &#8216;spy bill&#8217;<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" style=\"position: absolute; clip: rect(1px, 1px, 1px, 1px);\" title=\"&#8220;Experts sound the alarm over South Africa&#8217;s new &#8216;spy bill&#8217;&#8221; &#8212; BusinessTech\" src=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/751554\/experts-sound-the-alarm-over-south-africas-new-spy-bill\/embed\/#?secret=to88xKEdWO#?secret=HDZXFCJ7W2\" data-secret=\"HDZXFCJ7W2\" width=\"500\" height=\"282\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Security vetting<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting positively, &#8220;the omission of the draconian vetting provision is a victory for civil society,&#8221; said the CFE and IW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the bill still allows for the vetting of persons who have access to &#8220;critical infrastructure.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This means intelligence services could legally target SABC journalists for vetting [which] threatens journalistic independence and source confidentiality,&#8221; said the groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To rectify this, CFE and IW suggest that the bill should make it explicit that SABC journalists must be exempt from the vetting provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Mass interception of communications<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new version of the GILAB now requires intelligence services to obtain approval from a judge before conducting mass interception. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the judge must be appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice, which &#8220;only adequately promotes judicial independence if it means that the Chief Justice must concur with the President in order for a judge to be appointed,&#8221; said the Campaign for Free Expression and Intelwatch<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, GILAB now includes more stringent controls over data collected, which ultimately recognises the safeguards of the Protection of Personal Information Act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But, &#8220;the details of how mass interception will be conducted and how these processes will safeguard against abuses will only be established through additional regulations,&#8221; said the groups. &#8220;In this instance, we call on authorities to ensure that such regulations are gazetted in draft form and released for public comment,&#8221; as well as the final regulations, they added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Failure to address theft from and mismanagement of secret slush funds<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;GILAB still fails to give sufficient powers to the Auditor-General (AG), the Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI), and Parliament&#8217;s Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence to oversee the secret expenditures from the services&#8217; so-called slush fund,&#8221; said the groups. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;It is thus likely, if not inevitable, that the intelligence services will continue to receive qualified audits from the AG, with no real accountability to the public.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Office of the Inspector-General of Intelligence<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The IGI possesses the ability to employ staff and shape the organisational framework of their office, however, they lack the authority to enforce legally binding recommendations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Consequently, the IGI&#8217;s probes into misconduct within the services may not lead to significant repercussions for the implicated service members, argues the groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;We are also deeply disappointed by the fact that the much needed position of a deputy IGI was not provided for in GILAB [which] means that, should the IGI&#8217;s term come to an end, or should they vacate their office for any other reason, there will be a power vacuum (as was the case during the state capture era),&#8221; said CFE and IW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Broad definitions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A major source of contention from experts had been the definitions that were provided in the bill, warning that their broad nature leaves the door open for abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;While this Bill presented a golden opportunity for lawmakers to narrow down broad definitions, in particular the definitions of &#8216;national security&#8217; and &#8216;national security threat&#8217;, these core concepts remain vague and open to abusive interpretations by the intelligence services,&#8221; said the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, some of these concerns raised in the public participation process were taken onboard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The groups said it is &#8220;commendable that the particularly ill-defined term &#8216;potential opportunity&#8217;, which was contained in older versions of the Bill, has been omitted from the version approved by the NA.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Where improvements have been noted<\/strong> <strong>by CFE and IW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Campaign for Free Expression and Intelwatch said that the current iteration of GILAB does succeed in improving on current legislation in some areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This includes having the State Security Agency split into separate departments as &#8220;this is a crucial reversal of the 2009 Presidential Proclamation that consolidated the domestic and foreign intelligence branches into a single agency under a super-directorship.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The Bill now also allows for greater \u2013 although not sufficient \u2013 independence of the National Intelligence Coordination Committee (NICOC) [which] plays a crucial role in the services&#8217; effective functioning by ensuring that intelligence departments adhere to prescripts on intelligence coordination,&#8221; the groups said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Government&#8217;s response<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kenneth Mmoiemang, the Chairperson of the Ad Hoc committee on the GILAB in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), said that the initial bill submitted to Parliament has undergone &#8220;significant changes.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Mmoiemang, the changes made aim to address several concerns, including refining vague definitions, eliminating the requirement for vetting civic or faith-based organisations, removing the intelligence services&#8217; authority to detain individuals, and implement measures to prevent the potential abuse of security vetting within national security institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, he said that the bill now incorporate safeguards, such as a two-step authorisation process which involves both an internal intelligence service authorisation and an independent judicial review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>GILAB is now before the Ad Hoc Committee on GILAB in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), with public participation processes reopening from 12 April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is important to note though that the GILAB is a section 75 bill (an &#8216;ordinary bill not affecting the provinces&#8217;), meaning that the NCOP&#8217;s concurrence is not required for the Bill to be passed on to the President to sign into law<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/government\/743057\/the-big-danger-of-south-africas-new-surveillance-laws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The big danger of South Africa\u2019s new surveillance laws<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the revised General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill heading back for public comment, some experts are saying that there are still several issues that remain unaddressed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101,"featured_media":521152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[19382],"class_list":["post-767782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-government","tag-general-intelligence-laws-amendment-bill"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767782"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":767859,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767782\/revisions\/767859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}