Certain provisions of the Cybercrimes Act become operational on 1 December 2021, as South Africa gets closer to protecting businesses and individuals against cyber attacks and malicious communications

The President has declared that some parts of the Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 (Cybercrimes Act) are operational with effect from 1 December 2021. This follows the signature of the Cybercrimes Act by the President in May 2021.

The partial commencement of the Cybercrimes Act ushers in a new era of criminalising the ever-increasing and devastating incidences of digital crime – click here to read more. While we are excited about this new development, we will eagerly await the commencement of the remainder of the Cybercrimes Act to give a full set of teeth to this law.

We have included below some of the key sections of the Cybercrimes Act that have become effective, and those that have not. The list is not exhaustive.

Written by Peter Grealy, Nozipho Mngomezulu, Karl Blom, Wendy Tembedza, Cindy Leibowitz from Webber Wentzel