Rica helps to convict criminals

7 Sep 2011

The recently enforced Rica legislation - that ensures all mobile phone users are registered with the service providers - has help police secure convictions of criminals according to an article published in The New Age.

The paper quotes Deputy Justice Minister, Andries Nel, as saying both police and the prosecution authorities have commented on the favourable effects of the Rica legislation, particularly when it comes to serious crimes.

Nel says a number of convictions have turned on cellphone evidence either in terms of criminals communicating with each other or determining the location of individuals involved in the crime.

Times Live quotes Nel as saying that the successful prosecutions vindicate the usefulness of this legislation. His comments come ahead of South Africa's annual crime statistics, which are due to be released in Pretoria tomorrow.

It says the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act (Rica) became law in 2009 and cellphone users had to register their SIM cards by the end of June this year.

However, Times Lives reports that experts have decried as "unfortunate" and "bewildering" the call by Deputy Minister of Communications, Obed Bapela for regulations that will allow police to intercept and decrypt BlackBerry Messenger services.

BlackBerry has said that it would not provide a means for individual messengers to be decrypted by the authorities.