South Africa’s surveillance act RICA unconstitutional, inconsistent finds Court

The South Gauteng High Court has found that parts of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information (RICA) Act are unconstitutional. In April 2017, media group amaBhungane filed an application in the High Court challenging the constitutionality of the act. This, after it emerged that journalist Sam Sole’s communications were intercepted …

Cyber Crime Spikes: Android smartphones in South Africa, second-most hit by banking malware

Android smartphones in South Africa are the second-most targeted for banking malware, as malicious software attacks in general saw double-digit increases in the country, new research has revealed. South Africa saw malware attacks increase by 22% year-on-year in the first quarter of this year, according to Kaspersky Lab, which held its annual Cyber Security Weekend in …

ZADNA suspends its CEO Vika Mpisane

The CEO of the .ZA Domain Name Authority (ZADNA), Vika Mpisane, has been suspended. ZADNA is a not-for-profit organisation that manages and regulates the .ZA namespace, including domains like co.za, net.za, org.za, and web.za. Motlatjo Ralefatane, the chairperson of ZADNA’s board, confirmed the suspension of the CEO. Reports MyBroadband ZA Sources have stated there are …

South Africa’s ISP Association Blames regulator for exorbitant mobile data prices

The association has criticised Independent Communications Authority of SA (Icasa) for placing intervention on the back burner, despite South Africa being one of the world’s least competitive mobile data spaces. “According to the latest StatsSA General Household Survey, the exclusive use of cellphones was most common in the most economically marginalised provinces of Mpumalanga (95%), Limpopo …

Uber faces Country-wide outage in S. Africa

US Taxi E-hailing service Uber is experiencing a country-wide outage this morning. Drivers are unable to connect to the platform and passengers cannot hail a cab through the app. A message when opening the app says: “We are experiencing a brief disruption which is making it difficult for drivers to use the app. We’re sorry …

EFF: South Africa’s Draft Online Internet law is Africa’s Worst Cyber Censorship legislation

According to a south African’ internet blog, The Draft Online Regulation Policy proposed by the Film and Publication Board (FPB) is far-reaching and absolute in its censorship, with little clarity on practical implementation. This is according to commentators on a recent Carte Blanche insert about the Internet censorship which will accompany the bill. The FPB published …

Draft Policy to censor internet in South Africa called out as ‘unconstitutional’

The Right2Know Campaign has issued a statement in response to the South African Film & Publication Board’s (FPB) recent draft policy proposing to regulate online content in the country, rejecting the plan as “unnecessary censorship” and “unconstitutional”. The policy claims that regulation of online content is the prerogative of the FPB, as a purported means …