RICA is the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act. The customer registration section of the RICA, as set out by the South African Government requires everyone who has an active cellphone number or purchases a new Prepaid Starter Pack, to register their SIM cards from 1 July 2009.

Now there is nothing wrong with this act as its aim is to help law enforcement agencies to track criminals using cellphones for illegal activities, thereby contributing to make South Africa safer for everyone. What I wonder is, why is this only being implemented now? Something of this nature should have been done when the cellular network operators were setting up in South Africa.

What I find to be even more interesting about RICA is how it will apply to foreigners in South Africa. Take for example a visitor coming from Germany for the World Cup in 2010. He needs a SIM card so he can stay in touch whilst he is in South Africa. Now RICA requires one to produce some form of identification. Now the visitor from Germany will have his or her passport which is fine. Now the second requirement for RICA is to produce proof of residence. Now where does a visitor to South Africa get proof of residence from? They are only visiting. So does this mean that they can not purchase a SIM card in South Africa?

So I went to task yesterday to test this out. I wanted to purchase a new SIM card. So I told them that I am a foreigner visiting South Africa so I do not have proof of residence. The sales person was now confused. They did not know how to handle this situation. He insisted I produce proof of residence which I do not have. He then went to the back to ask his superior and he came back and said it is not possible to make the purchase. So I left and went to another shop and guess what, same response. Then a third shop… Same response.

So to sum it up, I was not able to purchase a SIM card as a foreigner from a shop which is emphasising on RICA. I knew if I really wanted a SIM card I could just go to the vendors on the street and they would sell me one. So I tried that and I easily got a SIM card and did not have to produce any form of ID or proof of residence.

Now besides foreigners, how are they going to get every South African with a SIM card to register for RICA? RICA started on 1 July 2009 and I wonder how many people who already have SIM cards have willingly gone to register for RICA. I guess not many. If the said something like, “If you do not register for RICA by 31 December 2009, we will cut off your line.” I am sure that would get people running to register with RICA.

So the Presidency finally got its hotline setup today. For those who do not know what is happening, Jacob Zuma promised us during his campaign that he will setup a hotline whereby we could call in and air our grievances. Officers at the Union Buildings call centre will handle calls and respond to public inquiries, and citizens will be able to lodge their queries by dialling the toll-free number, 17737.

It has been reported that in the first 3 hours of operation, they received 6000 calls. Now I have not yet called in to see how this is all going to work but I can imagine the kind of calls they are going to be receiving. I seriously doubt that a lot of people will be phoning in to praise the government as the bulk of the callers will be complaining about service delivery, schooling, housing, electricty etc. I would hate to be one of the people answering the calls!

What I am interested to find out is what happens when someone makes a call. Do you get given a reference number for you to then follow up your query with? With the large number of complaints that are going to be received, are the government going to be able to handle all the requests and attend to them? I think people also need to be told when to use this hotline. If I do not have electricity, should I call this hotline? I don’t think so, I should contact Eskom. But if I have never had electricity in my house for years then I must call this hotline. So I guess it is a matter of being reasonable enough to know when to use this number and I hope us as South Africans are able to differentiate when to call 17737.

It will be interesting to see how well this hotline works and we must see evidence in one form or the other of it working. What are your thoughts about 17737?

President Jacob Zuma, in his first 100 days, has turned out to be not what one would expect. The media, his former critics, the opposition and political analysts were carrying on about Zuma being anti-constitution, anti-judiciary, anti-independent media and devoid of leadership qualities. Despite the tough economic times, has he proved everybody wrong?

Like the Pied Piper of Hamlin, Zapiro’s cartoon of the 20th August 2009 published in the Mail & Guardian shows Zuma leading the ‘rats’ (Media, Opposition, Former critics, Analysts and Others) using the showerhead as his flute.

Visit Zuma’s First 100 days in Office - 14 Zapiro cartoons tell the story