State security agencies hold too much power: Campaign

The Right to Know Campaign says it remains concerned about the excessive power that State security agencies hold. It was reacting to the news that President Jacob Zuma had signed the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill into law.

Right to Know Campaign spokesperson Murray Hunter says South Africa’s State Security Agencies have the ability to monitor the communication of citizens, their e-mails, smses, cellphone, the media and social movements and activists on the ground. He believes this is too much intelligence power.

“The signing of the Law is not the problem. The problem is that the Bill seems to give too much power and much more mandate for state security institutions where it goes much beyond what is needed.

Hunter says Right to Know wants a law that would fully protect the public from possible abuse from Sate Security Agencies.

Zuma has also signed into law four other Bills – the National Health Amendment Bill, Dangerous Weapons Bill, The Prevention and Combating of Torture of Persons Bill and the National Environmental Management Laws Amendment Bill.

All five pieces of legislation include new Bills and amendments to already existing legislation.

Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj says the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill just is one of them.

“The main purpose of the Bill is to amend three Acts of Parliament, which relate to security services and to repeal an Act which had become obsolete due to the consolidation of the intelligence structures.”

Those intelligence structures are responsible for Intelligence Oversight, Strategic Intelligence and Intelligence Services.

The article above was published online by the SABC