The State Security Bill is critical legislation — but do the spooks need that much power?

Striking the balance between what you need to know and respecting privacy is the nightmare of every parent with a teenager. It seems the same impossible balance exists between a government and its citizens.

South Africans need to engage with the State Security Bill now — not, as we so often do, at the point where it is being passed in Parliament.

Notwithstanding the recent controversy and mismanagement of our intelligence entities for political and financial gain, we do need to legislate for the next phase of technology, and to ensure oversight in a world of smoke and shadows, ciphers and secrets.

The final framing of this legislation matters to media, NGOs, business, religious organisations, international aid and relief agencies, political parties, medical bodies and whistle-blowers — and it reaches the ordinary citizen who is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The innocent teenager at the wrong party.

In an age where an ordinary person has access to spy gear, where assassinations cross borders and communication is instant, new laws are needed. The question is what the limits should be.

What Changed in the Bill

As IntelWatch has reported, the bill originally called explicitly for state security vetting of people seeking to establish or operate non-governmental organisations or religious institutions. That drew widespread criticism from civil society and religious bodies, and the specific references to NGOs and churches were removed in a later version.

What replaced them is broader, not narrower. The state may now vet any person or institution it considers to be “of national security interest” — a threshold the bill defines as any action or omission that may potentially cause damage, harm or loss to national security. Section 198 of the Constitution, which the bill leans on, sets out governing principles rather than limits, and specifically prohibits only extralegal armed conflict.

Read the full IntelWatch analysis →

Further Reading

• Centre for Environmental Rights condemns State Security Agency monitoring of civil society organisations
• RICA and GILAB — the two surveillance bills before Parliament (Daily Maverick)
• State Security Agency

Note: the links shared here are not offered in support of, or in criticism of, any of the opinions in them. They are shared as information, and as examples of the debate and the thinking we need to apply.

Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of promoting engagement in legislation, protection of the nation, and protection of the human rights of every human being at home and abroad.

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