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South African lawmakers have proposed a law that could jail phone users for up
to 20 years or fined R20-million (US$2m) for not reporting their, lost, stolen
or destroyed cellphone and/or SIM card. Civil Rights groups are however alarmed
at its provisions, and may challenge it in court.
The SA Justice Committee is considering this move in terms of the Regulation of
Interception of Communications Bill, which would affect the over 13m GSM users
in South Africa.
According to the proposal, any owner of a cellphone or SIM card which is stolen,
lost or destroyed, "or any other person who was in possession or had control
thereof", must within a reasonable time report the incident to the police.
The bill specifies that this report can be made telephonically but the person
doing the reporting must receive a case number from the SA Police.
Cellphone theft is currently the most reported crime in South Africa,
according to current police statistics.
The penalties, say the lawmakers, are to be used to protect the privacy of
individuals and would apply to law enforcement officials and intelligence agents
who abuse the bill. They would also apply to the three SA cellphone operators
who do not comply with the law.
The lawmakers claim however that the move is aimed at fighting fraud and
cellphone theft in South Africa. Over 1 million stolen phones are thought to be
in circulation in South Africa, the majority being used with prepaid SIMs.
But many civil rights groups are concerned about the presumptions of guilt
contained in the bill, which may be challenged in the Constitutional Court.
The bill faces this hurdle because previous presumptions of guilt (relating to
for example, cannabis possession as an indication of cannabis dealing) have been
struck down by the generally liberal SA Constitutional Court.
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