Just as apartheid was forced on the many by the few, Rica’s is just another justifiable violation of each citisens rights.
Government: Do not question, do not pass comment just register your cellphone number!
SA Citizen: What is this for and does this not contravene the constitution, the highest law of the land. And how is it supposed to work anyway.
Gov: Register or else face the consequences. It does not contravene the constitution cause we wrote it and we care about you.
The RICA “deadlie”, oops I meant, deadline has been extended to June 2011. When is a deadline, not a deadline?
Go here for a full version of the Rica Act http://www.info.gov.za/acts/2002/a70-02/
I personally will not be RICA’d, well that was until my phone got cut off, just as I’m not FICA’d. Seems that there are similarities to Apartheid (that thing that we hate without really understanding why, and therefore repeat under other names aka, BEE & BBBEE). Everyone obey, don’t question or poke fun at and by the way “it will cost you” financially (who do you think is paying, government, Vodacom, MTN – where did they get the money from – take your finger and point to self) and so called civil liberties.
RICA – The Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act or more accurately the RICPCRI Act.
The one minor flaw in this immense infringement on the constitution and every South African’s right to “privacy”, is that by definition “criminals” do not follow the law.
The second is that they make their livelihood from dodging the law’s, governments think will stop them. In fact they probably make more money the more idiotic laws are put in place.
Now the government of the day and their cronies decide to dump the rest of the South African law abiding population in the shit by making them responsible and mucking with our rights.
Who’s footing the bill by the way?! Not the big companies because they will just add it on to your next bill in some form.
It astounds me that large corporations that constantly advertise the fact that they exist only to serve you “the public” accept this slap in the “constitutional face” without so much as a “excuse me!”. Makes me wonder if it makes more money screwing the public than looking out for them.
Yes, I’m talking about Vodacom, MTN, Cell-C, Virgin and any others that come to your mind who offer empty promises, for a price of course.
Virgin, I would have expected to jump into the fray and make at least a bit of a fuss as Richard often does against the establishment.
If I was a criminal
I would steal a cellphone to use in a crime. Fortunately the “RICA Act” will mean that the poor sap I stole the phone from will get blamed/bothered. [Score: Criminals 1 – RICA 0]
Big Brother’s watching over you, out for you
Yeah, right, pull the other one. I don’t accept the notion that I must give up my liberties for greater social security. Funny how they are part of the problem, unemployment, inflation, hikes in pricing of essential goods which pushes people into crime and then they spend more on trying to stamp the crime out. [Makes them look like they are the good guys and actually doing something about the situation.]
To the cellphone companies
Can you explain… how you stand by and in so doing assist the violation of the South African peoples constitutional rights?
Remember
That FICA thing. Where the government basically said FICA to your rights. Heard much about it lately? Seen a drop in the crime it was going to put “paid” to?
Statements that seem to apply
- Guilty until proven innocent – supposedly to assist in capturing those that don’t conform
- Bullshit baffles brains – if the average South African can understand the Act in full form I’ll eat, said Act. How can this be Democratic if you need to have studied law to unravel rules that supposedly apply to you.
Will RICA Succeed or Fail
As far as I am concerned it has already failed. Failed to understand that
- Crooks by definition, don’t obey laws
- Free-flowing communication’s benefits far outweigh the negatives
- You cannot legislate Freedom or stop things by making them illegal, remember prohibition
RICA can “Get Rica’d” as far as I’m concerned.
Quotes from other sources on the web
RICA – conceived by idiots, implemented by idiots and operated by idiots.
I was RICA‘d
As EltherZA wrote:
Things that can go wrong list:
- Someone registers your number accidentally under their name and they are unable to help you in this situation
- More phones will be stolen for the sim card to be used in crimes
- They have to do over 40 Million sims in 18 months, thats about 80 000 a day, thats about 5 per second… starting now but how many will leave it to the last month?
- Fake registering
- Corrupt registering
- 6. Buying a sim card from zimbabwe and using MTNs one rate over africa to do crimes (hey, slightly more expensive, but since when does that matter when you’re stealing a R30 000 tv right?)
7. Reselling of ‘registered’ sims
8. What happens if you register, but for some reason you arent added to the database and your sim is killed off, can you still re-activate it later?
9. How much would supporting this cost? register at R1 [for someones time] is already costing someone R40 000 000? Also, to maintain the database, ensure it’s secure, support etc etc.
10. What stops Vodacom/MTN/Cellc from double capturing the details (when you register at a shop, they add it to their database as well as the secure national one) and use location data, personal details to target marketing to you?
From MyBroadband
Why not simply cal them RICA Centre’s:
Centre’s for Reappraisal Intergration Classification and AssesmentEveryone gets a RICA card stating they are are compliant citizens, this card must be shown when buying airtime, or the number punched in when logging on to the WWW. It must be entered into your cell, and is tagged to every sms you send.
The card also provides the folowing info:
Race
Religion (lets throw in different colours for those)
Political Affiliations
Blood Type
Criminal Record
School Record
etc EtcNaturally you will not be allowed as a good RICA citizen to talk or communicate with anybody who is not RICA certified.
Lets all help Big Brother Nanny State in the removal of another of our freedoms , the right to privacy, the right to talk or communicate without being listened into, monitored and recorded.
Definitions
criminal
• noun a person who has committed a crime.
• adjective 1 relating to or constituting a crime. 2 informal deplorable and shocking.
— DERIVATIVES criminality noun criminally adverb.
crime
• noun 1 an offence against an individual or the state which is punishable by law. 2 such actions collectively. 3 informal something shameful or deplorable.
— ORIGIN Latin crimen ‘judgement, offence’.
offence
(US offense)
• noun 1 an illegal act; a breach of a law or rule. 2 resentment or hurt. 3 the action of making a military attack. 4 N. Amer. the attacking team in a sport.
law
• noun 1 a rule or system of rules recognized by a country or community as regulating the actions of its members and enforced by the imposition of penalties. 2 such rules as a subject of study or as the basis of the legal profession. 3 statute law and the common law. 4 a statement of fact to the effect that a particular natural or scientific phenomenon always occurs if certain conditions are present. 5 a rule defining correct procedure or behaviour in a sport. 6 something having binding force or effect: his word was law. 7 (the law) informal the police.
— PHRASES be a law unto oneself behave in an unconventional or unpredictable manner. lay down the law issue instructions in an authoritative or dogmatic way. take the law into one’s own hands illegally or violently punish someone according to one’s own ideas of justice.
— ORIGIN Old Norse, ‘something laid down or fixed’; related to LAY1.
Dude, just the advertising to bring this new act to the public’s attention is going to cost gazillions.
And now (thanks to the RICA act) you’re required to give your personal information to a private company, who will DEFINITELY add that to their marketing database (I would if I made my money from selling people’s contact info).
And then it will be YOUR problem trying to get them to remove that info from their database (and all the companies who already bought your info). You’ll have to threaten legal action based on the provisions of the ECT act. But that seldom helps, because if they play hardball, you’ll have to pay the legal fees from your own (already empty) pocket first.
I can just imagine the reception you’ll get if you go to your local police station to lay a charge against a company, for providing your name and address to a third party without your consent. Wonder how long they’ll take to lose that docket – if you ever get it recorded? I mean, you must be CRAZY wasting the police’s time with that, right?
I hear they’re sending rape victims away without recording a charge – to make the crime stats look better. So, how are they going to act if it is “only” your rights being raped?
I predict that the only government agency that will ever make proper use of the information recorded due to the RICA act, will be SARS. I wonder if they’ll be able to dock your pre-paid cellphone balance in the same way they can simply empty your bank account, if they feel like it. I don’t think it is that far-fetched an idea.
Thaks for your input nafi
I’ll have to add those points to my disgust. Who’s watching the watcher’s or monitoring the monitor’s? The greatest crime here is the fleecing (raping as you put it) of the South African people once again. I’d like your comments feedback on no-vote.co.za
I was sitting outside the school one day waiting to pick my daughter up and reading the RICA pamphlet about what information is required to register. It occurred to me as I watched all the kids reach for their cell phones from school bags as if in a high noon draw as soon as they emerged from the gate, that one of the requirements is proof of physical address.
The Pamphlet states:
One physical address. You will need to show any document that includes your name and residential address such as bank statement, municipal rates, cellphone or retail account (not older than 3 months), existing lease, rental or credit agreement, insurance policy, current TV or motor vehicle license.
I wondered how many of the thousands of children that carry cell phones today have any of the above proof of residence. This method of communication has become vital in our assurance of our childs whereabouts (via searchforme etc.) and emergency contact – trust me, we need it!
The next point states that if you live in an informal settlement you can provide a letter and/or affidavit from a school, church on an official letterhead or have school, church etc. official stamp.
And to add to that – how many children have got official ID documents in terms of either:
Green barcoded ID document
ID Card
Temporary ID certificate or
Passport
In my opinion the whole idea is ill-conceived and was probably birthed during a drunken game of “truth, dare or promise” at one of the ministers’ parties funded by tax payers…
Hi Phil
Thanks for your perspective. I’d forgotten how many under 21’s there are who have cellphones and who probably commit heineous crimes daily, you know like, chatting to mates on MXit, taking pictures and generally showing off their new cellphone.
Ill conceived… or a brilliant and lucrative ploy?
“Fighting for peace, is like screwing for virginity.” Once again the government caught “screwing for virginity”.
Thanks, Grant
Hi there!
I’m new to all of this. Could you tell me what happens if I simply don’t register my sim?
Hi Fay, I’m not sure what penalties, if any are stipulated in the act. Personally I’m not registering and I’m sure they will make it clearer as to penalties, if any, closer to the deadlines. So I don’t see any harm in not registering unless you absolutely need a new phone or are on contract.
Thank you Grant.
I find this site to be most informative with regards to the RICA act. You are highlighting most of the concerns I had as soon as I came to know of it. This whole thing is something I am definitely not comfortable with. I do see how it could be beneficial in curbing crime, but in my view the cons far outweigh the pros and as such, couldn’t government conceive of a better plan, perhaps one that doesn’t violate our privacy? It seems to me that our safety and security could also be at stake here, because I don’t think it would be to difficult for criminal elements who have the know how to access individual persons’ details, which would include home addresses and other information that could help them to find lucrative targets for their criminal activities.
Anyway, could you please also tell me when exactly the deadline is? I’ve been browsing other sites but I can’t seem to find out when it is.
Thanks again.
31.12.2010
What if I, as a law abiding citizen needs a new contract?
I received a letter from an Uberstmpfuhrer at Vodacom telling me that if I do not register with RICA, they will cut me off.
I wrote back and included a copy of our Constitution Chapter 2 Bill of Rights Section 14 – Privacy: Everyone has the right to privacy including the right not to have the privacy of ther communications infringed. I told them they had better explain to me why I should have my rights trampled on before they switch my service off. I am prepared to challenge them in the Constitutional court if they do so.
Then you have the absolute right to get Rica’d – sorry I don’t know any way around it if you want a cellphone on contract. Law abiding means what, you follow every and all laws, no matter what? I’m not saying break the law, I’m saying where the “Law” is idiotic or based on a false premise then you will naturally break it. I’m sure you remember those Wright brother’s, the world said it was impossible for man to fly. Fortunately they didn’t buy it. I cannot see how the greater good is served by limiting an individuals rights whilst the there are more laws protecting the fat cats. Blue flashing light brigade. You see Apartheid which is really a state of mind placing any group above another “inequality” is still alive and well in South Africa.
Good on you Sid! Fraudulent and extortion too boot. No way you can be charged for and not receive a service and it probably contravenes the Consumer Protection Bill too. Let me know how they respond if at all. Can you send me the letter you sent, so I can send to my operator.
So what they are telling me is that i am doing the whole country a favour if i let them listen to what me and my girlfriend say over the phone,or on mxit!!!!!!!!!!!!????????? I am truly pissed about this RICA!!!!!!What makes them think that criminals are going to obey like mindless dogs.I got an sms 2 days ago that said (or threatened actually) that i have less than a month to register my phone for rica or else……u all now the “consequences'”.This is truly the biggest load of BS i’ve heard since my dad warned me that making out with a girl could make her pregnant.I cant wait to see what will appear on national television when the we start to rebel against his.What are theyre exscuses for this.why exactly did they decide to start this whole operation?IF ITS SUCH A GREAT IDEA WHY HAVEN’T ANY OTHER COUNTRY’S DONE THE SAME!!
I can tell your pissed off. I worry for the country when “laws/ideas” are accepted because they come from the “authorities”, it’s not a great indication of where we are as a nation. Much like Apartheid was “accepted/supported” and BBBEE in my opinion which is more of the same. As in this case great steaming 3 year old bull shit. All the best for 2011, let’s hope we can kick up enough noise to wake the neighbours.
Trust me i’ll do my part!!!!!!
RICA is just ANOTHER way to track ANYONE, and the statement that only law enforcement agencies can access it is NONSENSE!
I have a small debt owed to a company from WAY back in 2000.
I have been outside of South Africa for 12 years.
I registered my new pay as you go card a couple of months back.
I have only EVER given the number to family and friends.
Today, I get a call on that cell from a law firm demanding the money owed from way back in 2000.
Ok, I owe the money, and will pay it, BUT, how the hell did they get the number if not from RICA?!
Joe
Hi Joe, hmmm, I don’t know how they tracked you down. You could always ask them. Does sound a little fishy. Laws are always abused by someone or for someones gain.
at Joe: DON”T PAY or ACKNOWLEDGE that you will pay. The debt is more than 3 years old and according to the prescription act – is no more. Debt’s prescribe 3 years after the last payment was made or demanded.
Go see an attorney if you please – most reputable firms will give you an initial opinion over the phone free of charge.
how do i trace someone who is stalking me.
I don’t think you will be able to unless the police think it’s warranted. Depends on how the stalking is happening, you can get a restraining order or if it’s via cellphone then get their number barred.
I think you should rather concern yourself with educating yourself fully on the situation before commenting. I personally believe that you lost the plot. If you read the ACT properly you would change a number of you statements. All you have done is make a fool out of yourslef. Did you mom never tell you to rather keep quiet if you dont know anything. Education is the key to the future i guess…
Educate me then Sam …
Excellent article. Stumbled on it by chance and agree with everything.
We live in a paranoia fueled society unfortunately where people would accept anything if someone in authority tells them it’s good for them.
Sheep mentality again and again Rica fica tags t&cs for everything. All these tons of private info circulating, tons of id copies archived in physical and digital format.
Criminals are rubbing their hands with all the info they can hack in all those servers while the average Joe acts all righteous