PARLIAMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA
NATIONAL ASSEMBLY
WRITTEN REPLY
QUESTION NO: 1463
DATE OF PUBLICATION: 25 September 2009
QUESTION PAPER NO: 18
DATE OF REPLY: 7 October 2009
Mr N J van den Berg (DA) to ask the Minister of Communications:
(1) (a) With reference to the new Rica database in terms of the
Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of
Communication-related Information Amendment Act, Act 48 of 2008, (i)
who deals with and (ii) manages it and (b) who has the right of access
to the personal information that has to be provided in accordance with
this Act before a new sim card can be activated;
(2) what are the projected costs related to the administration brought
about by the Act? NW1822E
REPLY:
1) (a)(i) & (ii): In terms of the In terms of the Regulation of
Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related
Information Amendment Act, the Electronic Service Providers or their
appointed agents will capture the client information. The process of
managing client information is solely a responsibility of the
Electronic Service Providers concerned.
(b) The information recorded and stored as well as the facility in or on
which the information is recorded and stored, must be secure and only
accessible to persons specifically designated by that Electronic Service
Providers. Furthermore, the RICA also provides for the Department of
Justice and Constitutional Development to develop security standards
regarding how to secure the database.
2) In terms of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and
Provision of Communication-related Information Amendment Act,
specifically Section 40(2), read with 40(4), the Electronic Service
Providers have to implement, at their own cost, a process to record
and store client information. It is therefore not possible to provide
the projected costs related to the administration brought about by the
Act.