07 February 2025 | 01:16 PM

Listen: Cherese Thakur discusses the “momentous” Constitutional Court ruling on SA’s Rica surveillance law, with Bruce Whitfield

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In an interview with The Money Show’s Bruce Whitfield, Cherese Thakur explained the meaning of amaBhungane’s February 4, Constitutional Court victory, saying: “The ruling is momentous in that it says this needs to change when the amendments to Rica to bring it in line with the Constitution are eventually passed, which needs to happen within three years.”

In it’s judgement, the Constitutional Court, confirmed a landmark 2019 high court ruling, which found five provisions of South Africa’s surveillance law, the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (Rica) to be unconstitutional.

*Read the Constitutional Court judgement.

The highest court in the land also declared bulk surveillance in South Africa to be unlawful.

AmaBhungane launched a high court challenge in 2017 after it emerged that phone calls between its managing partner Sam Sole and a prosecutor involved in the investigation of former president Jacob Zuma had been intercepted.

Also read: Advocacy comment: AmaB’s Rica victory — big brother can no longer watch us with impunity

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amaBhungane

Before joining the amaBhungane team in 2017, Micah was the national coordinator for media freedom and diversity at the Right2Know Campaign. He holds a Masters in African Studies from Oxford University and a BA Honours in History from Wits University.

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