South Africa case study
This case study focusses on the rise and fall of anti-surveillance activism in South Africa, from 2010 to date, as a form of public oversight of intelligence-driven surveillance. In 2010, the government attempted to introduce a highly controversial Bill, the Protection of Information Bill (Protection of Information Bill 2010), which threatened to give South Africa’s civilian intelligence agency, the State Security Agency (SSA), the powers to overclassify huge swathes of government information and cloak it in a shroud of secrecy: hence, its critics dubbed it the ‘Secrecy Bill’ (News24, 2011). The campaign against the Bill extracted major concessions from the government.
However, once Jacob Zuma was replaced by Cyril Ramaphosa as president, anti-surveillance activism shrunk, making it difficult to consolidate the democratic gains made during that period. At the same time, more contained forms of contention, using more well-established forms of claim-making, such as strategic litigation, has won ground. In 2021, the fight against abusive surveillance culminated in a major legal victory against the government won by the amaBhungane Centre for Investigative Journalism in the highest court in South Africa, the Constitutional Court.This case study examines the rise and fall of anti-surveillance activism in South Africa as a form of public oversight. The chapter answers two main questions: what factors contributed to the rise and fall of the highly effective anti-surveillance activism during Zuma’s presidency, followed by the success of strategic litigation? What lessons are to be learnt from this failure and success for emerging practices of public oversight of intelligence-driven surveillance?
Media articles
Jane Duncan, “South Africa’s intelligence agency needs speedy reform – or it must be shut down”, The Conversation, 7 March 2023
“South African Spy Bill fails the democratic test on bulk surveillance”, Daily Maverick, 1 August 2023
Jane Duncan, ‘South Africa’s surveillance law is changing but citizens’ privacy is still at risk’, The Conversation, 8 October 2023
Jane Duncan, ‘South Africa’s new intelligence bill is meant to stem abuses – what’s good and bad about it’, The Conversation, 15 January 2024
Jane Duncan, ‘Surveillance and the state: South Africa’s proposed new spying law is open for comment – an expert points out its
flaws’, The Conversation, 5 February 2024
Jane Duncan, ‘South Africa is trying to put a stop to the abuse of its intelligence agencies – what still needs fixing’, The Conversation, 22 July 2024
Jane Duncan, ‘Storm over SABC news head Moshoeshoe Monare puts spotlight on SA’s broken security vetting system’ (with Heidi Swart), Daily Maverick, 5 May 2024
Interviews
Jane Duncan, interview with South Africa’s public broadcaster, the South African Broadcasting Corporation on South Africa’s General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, 15 January 2024
Jane Duncan, interview with The Citizen newspaper on South Africa’s General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, 14 February 2024
Jane Duncan, radio debate on 702 Talk Radio on South Africa’s General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, 22 February 2024
Jane Duncan, panel debate on the Bill with the chairperson of the Parliamentary Committee chairperson responsible for the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, Jerome Isaac Maake, Radio 702, 22 February 2024 (not available online)
Jane Duncan, interview with ENCA on regulation of covert intelligence operations, 25 July 2024 (not available online)
Jane Duncan, interview on the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill with Denzil Taylor, Power FM, 31 July 2024
Policy briefs
Jane Duncan, ‘The future of bulk interception of digital communications: issues and policy options’, Intelwatch, January 2024
Legislative engagement
Parliamentary submissions
Jane Duncan, written and verbal submissions to the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development (a standing committee of the South African Parliament) and the National Council of Provinces, on the Regulation of Interception of Communication and Provision of Communication Related Information Amendment Bill B28-2023
Jane Duncan, written and verbal submissions to the ad-hoc committee on General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill (an ad-hoc committee of the South African Parliament) and the National Council of Provinces ad-hoc committee on the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill.
Academic papers and seminars
Jane Duncan, talk given at 'Living Well in a Digital World' seminar, hosted by the Digital Society and Economy Interdisciplinary Research Theme, supported by the College of Social Sciences at the University of Glasgow.14 June 2023.