Rica law allows the state or government to monitor telephone conversations and communication methods, but journalists strongly object to the system, which many consider to be a breach of privacy and bordering on a communist order.
The Communications Control Act is intended to protect the nation’s citizens from various woes in the communications industry.
Judge Roland Sutherland said the purpose of the law is to protect people from unlawful conduct, which is likely to ban aspects such as eavesdropping.
He says the law provides for exceptions where criminal acts are at issue and the state does have the power to intervene.
However, the judge found that there was not sufficient protection built in, and therefore the law did not meet the requirements of the constitution.
The case ended up in the Pretoria High Court when a journalistic structure objected to certain provisions of the law, and the judge’s ruling is seen as a huge victory against the government t
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