Retailers undermining the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act (Rica) and jeopardising its aims and objectives were guilty of an offence, and stood to be fined or imprisoned for contravention of the law, government officials warned on Wednesday.

By July 1, all Sim cards in South Africa had to be registered under Rica or services were cut off. But a market for pre-registered Sim cards emerged, where people could buy Sim cards without producing the required documentation. There was nothing stopping people buying and registering multiple Sim cards.

Justice and Constitutional Development Deputy Minister Andries Nel explained that “in some instances persons have bought large quantities of Sim cards which are ‘Rica'ed’ in their own names. These individuals then sell these Sim cards without complying with section 40(5) of the Rica Act. These persons, in doing so, commit an offence and can, and will, be prosecuted. The Sim cards in question can be traced back to them and they will have to face the consequences of their actions.”

Mobile cellular operators that failed to comply with sections of the Act were also guilty of an offence and were liable, on conviction, to a fine or imprisonment not exceeding R100 000 for each day on which failure to comply continued.

Nel said the pre registration under Rica and subsequent resale of Sim cards did not represent a loophole in the legislation, but rather was evidence of people trying to subvert the law.

“The Rica Act, like all other legislation, is susceptible to undermining by unscrupulous individuals. The only remedy to ensure compliance with the law in general is to impose penalties for any contravention thereof,” he said.

The responsible government departments, law enforcement agencies and mobile operators have met and would continue to meet to discuss issues and address them.

Nel noted that some operators have already lodged cases with the police that would be pursued.

It was said to be the operators’ obligation under the law to know who they provided services to. However, the State was working closely with industry and it was “not a case of shifting the bulk of the responsibility onto the private sector”, Nel said.

Deputy Communications Minister Obed Bapela said that Rica was a costly exercise, but that it was necessary.

Nel said that the interception of communications, such as voice calls or SMS, has been very important in a number of high profile cases, and Bapela added that it could assist in investigations into human trafficking and attacks on infrastructure, for example.

“Let’s give this law a chance to start biting,” Bapela reiterated.

The latest figures from midnight, June 30, showed that Cell C had 99.99% of contract, and 97% of prepaid subscribers registered; MTN had 99.5% of contract, and 97% of prepaid subscribers registered; and Vodacom had 98.98% of contract, and 95.12% of prepaid subscribers registered.

At present, the exact number of pre-registered Sim cards available had not been determined, however, stakeholders would be meeting again in two weeks, when the extent of the problem would emerge more clearly.

While the industry as a whole was said to have spent over R500-million on the Rica process, to ensure customers registered, Cell C alone said that it had spent between R300-million and R400-million, MTN said it had spent about R250-million and Vodacom said that it had also spent hundreds of millions.