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IN THE SPOTLIGHT: GENERAL INTELLIGENCE LAWS AMENDMENT BILL, 2023
- 31 January 2024
- In the Spotlight
- SA Legal Academy
The SA Legal Academy (SALA) has been reporting on the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill since August 2023. Against that backdrop, the process to date is summarised below – with links to SALA reports that include all related source documents.
Formally introduced in Parliament on 17 November 2023, the Bill is being processed by an ad hoc committee established by the National Assembly expressly for that purpose. By that time, an uncertified draft version of the Bill had already been submitted to Parliament for information and planning purposes only – having been approved by Cabinet in May 2023.
According to a memorandum on the Bill’s objects, it proposes an intelligence services ‘architecture’ based on:
- recommendations in the Presidential High Level Review Panel report
- the White Paper on Intelligence, and
- international benchmark studies.
It also seeks to respond to:
- a September 2019 Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) ruling and February 2021 Constitutional Court ruling on ‘bulk and targeted interception’, and
- issues raised in the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture report.
During late November and December 2023, the committee received briefings on the Bill from:
- the State Security Agency
- the National Intelligence Coordinating Committee
- the South African Police Service Crime Intelligence unit, and
- the Office of the Inspector-General of Intelligence.
On 18 December 2023, the ad hoc committee issued a notice calling for written submissions – the deadline for which has since been extended to 15 February 2024.
All documents referred to above can be found in the SA Legal Academy reports to which links are provided below.
- Bill
- February 2021 Constitutional Court ruling
- September 2019 Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) judgment
- SALA report (30 August 2023)
- SALA report (22 September 2023)
- SALA report (15 November 2023)
- SALA report (18 December 2023)
On 18 January 2024, the committee began a nationwide programme of public hearings on the Bill – beginning in Gauteng and Limpopo provinces. The following committee media statements provide some insight into the views expressed:
An information sheet prepared by IntelWatch provides more insights into the possible implications of the Bill’s contents:
Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch