Article source: www.forsa.org.za

The public hearings on the controversial General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, 2023 (the “Spy Bill”) concluded yesterday, 21 Feb. Legal advocacy organisation Freedom of Religion South Africa (FOR SA) made an oral presentation to the Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee on General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill, highlighting its concerns with the current draft of the Bill.

Several key definitions in the Bill are so broad that religious institutions, their leaders, employees and members are potentially caught up in its wide net. This means that even people who do not have access to classified information or critical state infrastructure can be subjected to mandatory security vetting to determine whether they should be issued with a security clearance certificate.

By the deadline for written comments on Thursday, 15 February 2024, over 23, 000 public submissions had been submitted via the DearSouthAfrica.co.za platform alone. The controversial Bill proposes allowing the South African Intelligence Agency (i.e. spies) to conduct security competence tests on so-called “persons and institutions of national security interest”. These investigations aim to identify threats to national security.

The consequences of failing to obtain a security clearance certificate are unclear, but it is highly unlikely that you would be allowed to continue to operate within South Africa. There is therefore a very real possibility that religious institutions (e.g. churches, mosques, and shuls) could be forced to shut their doors.

“In its current form, the Bill can be abused to harass or even silence critical voices who oppose government policies, even if you are using constitutionally protected lawful protest and dissent”, said FOR SA Executive Director, Michael Swain. “Even worse, it opens the door to legalised mass surveillance and for State regulation of religion.”  Although these consequences may be unintended or inadvertent, this Bill is the type of draconian law typical of totalitarian states. In its substantive written submission, FOR SA contends that such laws have no place in South Africa’s constitutional democracy based on human rights and freedoms.

During the rest of February, parliamentary legal advisors will brief the Committee on the input received from the public. The State Security Agency will also be allowed to respond. Thereafter, the Committee will consider the public input and deliberate the content of the Bill. It has declared its intention to adopt the Bill and to submit its report to Parliament by Friday, 1 March 2024. From there, the Bill will be considered by a plenary sitting of the National Assembly before being transferred to the National Council of Provinces.

FOR SA will continue to monitor the progress of the Bill and alert our constituency of important developments.

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Date published: 22/02/2024
Feature image: Image for illustrative purposes only. Artwork adapted from www.freepik.com

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