Case Law[2024] ZAGPPHC 233South Africa
Gcabashe v MTN Group Ltd (53/2019) [2024] ZAGPPHC 233 (6 March 2024)
Judgment
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# South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
South Africa: North Gauteng High Court, Pretoria
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## Gcabashe v MTN Group Ltd (53/2019) [2024] ZAGPPHC 233 (6 March 2024)
Gcabashe v MTN Group Ltd (53/2019) [2024] ZAGPPHC 233 (6 March 2024)
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SAFLII
Note:
Certain
personal/private details of parties or witnesses have been
redacted from this document in compliance with the law
and
SAFLII
Policy
FLYNOTES:
PAIA – Cell phone records –
Criminal
appeal
–
Alleges
cell phone records that were used by State in trial to secure
conviction were either tainted or fabricated –
Seeking
detailed itemized billing records for period of robbery in
question – Sought information can be accessed by
means of
subpoena – Applicant has not made out a case that he is
entitled in law to requested information – Relief
sought not
legally competent due to lapse of time – Application
dismissed –
Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of
2000
,
s 7(1).
IN
THE HIGH COURT OF SOUTH AFRICA
GAUTENG
DIVISION, PRETORIA
CASE
NO: 53/2019
In
the matter between:
BHEKANI
WELCOME GCABASHE
Applicant
And
MTN
GROUP LTD
Respondent
JUDGMENT
Nyathi
j
A.
INTRODUCTION
[1]
This is an application to compel the
respondent to furnish cell phone records of the applicant for the
cell phone number 0[….]
for the period from 20 April 2014 to
29 April 2014.
[2]
The application is opposed by the second
respondent.
[3]
The applicant is Bhekani Welcome
Gcabashe an adult male currently incarcerated at Zonderwater Medium A
Correctional Center, Cullinan,
Gauteng. The respondent is MTN (Pty)
Ltd a private company and a South African multinational corporation
and mobile network provider
incorporated in accordance with the law
of the Republic of South Africa. Its principal place of business is
situated at 2[…]
1[…]th A[…], F[…], R[…],
J[…].
B.
BACKGROUND
[4]
The applicant in this matter was charged
with and convicted of armed robbery and is currently incarcerated at
Zonderwater Medium
A Correctional Centre, Cullinan in Gauteng. The
applicant is in the process of appealing his conviction and
sentence. He
brought an application to compel the respondent,
MTN, to provide him with copies of his cell phone records for cell
phone number
0[…] for the period 20 April 2014 until 29 April
2014. These records were once released by the respondent to the
National
Prosecuting Authority in terms of
section 205(1)
of the
Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977
for trial purposes. The applicant
is of the opinion that his cell phone records that were used by the
state in his trial to secure
his conviction were either tainted or
fabricated.
[5]
The applicant contends that he was
wrongfully charged and convicted of armed robbery as a result he
seeks his detailed itemised
billing records for the period of the
robbery in question because he harbours suspicions regarding the cell
phone records that
were used in his trial which led to his
conviction.
[6]
He intends to compare the records he
will obtain from the respondent with those used at trial to determine
the accuracy thereof.
The applicant contends that he was not part of
the robbery crew and was not in contact with any of the co-accused
before, during
and after the robbery and he was not found in
possession of the money that was stolen.
[7]
He contends that the number 0[….]
for which the cell phone records are sought is his. He contends that
his cell phone records
which are in the possession of the respondent
will detail and reveal his whereabouts at the time when the robbery
is alleged to
have taken place, and this will prove his innocence
once and for all as he submitted that he was not part of the robbery
crew.
[8]
He
contends that this cell phone triangulation evidence is essential to
his appeal and the realisation of his constitutional right
to a fair
trial. The applicant relies on section 32(1)(b) of the Constitution
to show his entitlement to the records requested
from the respondent.
The applicant submits that section 32(1)(b) of the Constitution
trumps any other legislation including statutes
dealing with
communication-related information such as RICA.
[1]
[9]
The applicant submits that the
respondent will not suffer any prejudice if the court finds in his
favour, while he stands to suffer
great prejudice if the court does
not grant the relief he seeks. The prejudice will be that he will not
be able to bring another
application to introduce further evidence to
prove that he was wrongfully convicted. Moreover, if the court does
not grant the
relief sought it will set a dangerous precedent, one
that will cause an injustice and violate people’s
constitutional rights.
[10]
The applicant has filed a second set of
heads of argument. Here the applicant contends that he is a customer
of the respondent as
the number 0[…] which he requests records
for belonged to him before the robbery leading up to the period when
he was convicted,
and it was serviced by the respondent up until it
was put out of service after this application was lodged.
[11]
He submits that he was never in a
contractual agreement with the respondent, but he was on a pre-paid
plan also offered by the respondent.
He attached a confirmatory
affidavit of his wife of 23 years attesting same. He submits that
although he cannot obtain his account
details since he is
incarcerated, the number in question appears in his ABSA business
bank account and cheque account. He submits
that this is sufficient
to establish his locus standi and that he is a customer of the
respondent who is entitled to the cell phone
records he seeks. He
further submits that the respondent has this information at its
fingertips and can assist the court in determining
that the number in
question is in fact his number and that he is a customer of the
respondent.
[12]
Additionally, the applicant has annexed
in his second set of heads, the “without prejudice”
correspondences sent to
his erstwhile attorneys and then to him after
his attorneys withdrew. One of these essentially state that the
respondent has not
received any proof that the number for which the
cell phone records are sought belongs to the applicant and as such
they cannot
release such information to him until he has satisfied
them that the number does or did belong to the applicant; further,
the respondent
states that the cell phone records released to the
state in terms of
section 205(1)
of the
Criminal Procedure Act 61 of
1977
should be in the record of the applicant’s criminal trial
and the respondent invites the applicant to request this information
from his criminal trial record. In the second without prejudice
correspondence, the respondent calls on the applicant to withdraw
the
application before this court due to the delay in finalizing this
matter and due to the applicant’s erstwhile attorneys’
withdrawal. Failing to do so, the respondent stated they will move to
dismiss this application and seek costs on an attorney and
client
scale.
C.
THE RESPONDENT’S
SUBMISSIONS
[13]
The respondent raised points
in
limine
in that the applicant did not
set out the empowering provision on which he relies on for bringing
this application and it thus
difficult to determine if the applicant
has made all the necessary averments to support the allegations he
made; the applicant
does not allege the grounds upon which he is
entitled to the information he has requested from the respondent, he
did not furnish
proof that he was a customer of the respondent during
the period upon which he requires the cell phone records; the
applicant’s
application has lapsed in that the maximum storage
period for archived communication-related information.
[14]
The respondent submits that the
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA)
prescribed regulations in terms of
section 4
read with
section 69(1)
of the
Electronic Communications Act 2005
in respect of the code of
conduct for electronic communications and electronic communications
network services licensees, which
stipulate that requested
communication-related information can only be provided to customers
or consumers, subject to certain exceptions.
The respondent submits
that the applicant has not shown any relationship with the respondent
entitling him the title of ‘customer’.
[15]
The respondent submits that the
applicant is mistaken in believing that it can and should provide the
information sought. The respondent
submits that the reason for such a
submission is that the regulations released by ICASA stipulate that
communication-related information
must be stored for a maximum period
of 3 years and this application is late as the three years have
lapsed and the respondent no
longer has the information requested in
its possession. The respondent further submits that this application
is futile and if the
court grants the order sought by the applicant,
the order will have no practical effect as the respondent cannot
provide information
it does not have, and it will expose the
respondent to incurable and perpetual contempt of court.
[16]
The respondent submits that this
application is flawed, and the relief sought is not legally competent
based on the submissions
it made above, as such the application falls
to be dismissed with costs.
Issues
for determination
[17]
There are two issues for consideration
in this matter. Firstly, whether the applicant is entitled to request
the cell phone records
from the respondent and secondly, whether the
relief sought is legally competent.
D.
ANALYSIS
OF THE LEGAL PROVISIONS
[18]
Section 32 of the Constitution
stipulates that:
“
Access
to information
(1)
Everyone has the right of access to—
(a)
any information held by the state; and
(b)
any information that is held by another person and that is required
for the exercise or protection of any rights.
...”
[19]
The right guaranteed by section 32(1)
appears to be a broad right, one that allows one to request any
information about oneself,
the use of ‘any information’
indicates that a requester is not limited in terms of what they can
request access to.
This right is also broad in that it is applicable
to both the public and private bodies and is not merely restricted to
state-held
information. This provision finds application in this
matter as the applicant (requester) requests access to the
information in
the form of cell phone records that he believes is
held by the respondent, a private body.
[20]
The
court in
ABBM
Printing & Publishing (Pty) Ltd v Transnet Ltd
[2]
gave the word ‘required’ in section 32(1)(b) of the
Constitution a generous and purposive meaning and held that
‘required’
should be understood to mean ‘reasonably
required’.
[3]
The
court further held that the applicant in that matter “
clearly
require[d] the documents referred to in the notice of motion in order
to determine whether the tender process complied with
the
requirements of section 33 of the Constitution. Until it has had
sight thereof, it cannot decide whether it has any claim for
relief
against the respondent
.”
[4]
[21]
Moreover, in
Tobacco
Institute of Southern Africa and Others v Minister of Health
,
the test for section 32(1) was set out as follows on page 752G-H:
“
In
order to trigger the aforementioned right of access, two threshold
requirements must be met. Firstly, the information must be
‘required’
and, secondly, it must be required for the exercise or protection of
any of the claimants’ ‘rights’.”
[22]
Considering the above, it can be argued
that the test for section 32(1) is whether the information sought is
reasonably required
for the enforcement and realisation of the
applicants’ rights. This is to say that when the requester of
information reasonably
requires said information for the purpose of
exercising or protecting any of their rights and cannot determine if
they have a claim
or a relief in respect of that right without the
sought information in sight, they should be provided with the sought
information.
In this matter, the applicant seeks to appeal his
conviction and sentence and is of the belief that the sought cell
phone records
are the only evidence that can aid him in determining
if he can and should pursue the appeal. Furthermore, the applicant is
of
the belief that the sought cell phone records will be the evidence
that he will need to succeed in his appeal, provided it is sufficient
to pursue an appeal.
[23]
Furthermore,
section 32(2) of the Constitution stipulates that “national
legislation must be enacted to give effect to this
right…”
set out in section 32(1) which is the right of access to any
information, hence, the Promotion of Access to
Information Act 2 of
2000 (PAIA), which regulates the provision of access to requested
information. The Constitutional Court in
Minister
of Health and Another v New Clicks South Africa (Pty) Ltd and
Others
[5]
held that where the Constitution requires for legislation to be
enacted which will give effect to the constitutional rights
guaranteed
in the Constitution, and said legislation is indeed
enacted, the litigant should not directly rely on the Constitution
unless there
are deficiencies in the said legislation.
[6]
This is affirmed in various judgments, one being the judgment of
PFE
International Inc (BVI) and Others v Industrial Development
Corporation of South Africa Ltd
[7]
where the Constitutional Court said the following regarding PAIA in
relation to section 32 of the Constitution:
“
PAIA
is the national legislation contemplated in section 32(2) of the
Constitution. In accordance with the obligation imposed by
this
provision, PAIA was enacted to give effect to the right of access to
information, regardless of whether that information is
in the hands
of a public body or a private person. Ordinarily, and according to
the principle of constitutional subsidiarity, claims
for enforcing
the right of access to information must be based on PAIA.”
[8]
[24]
This is important because bypassing the
enacted legislation and relying directly on the Constitution when the
legislation put in
place to give effect to the constitutional rights
defeats the purpose of having the legislation enacted in the first
place. This
speaks to the principle of subsidiarity which “denotes
hierarchical ordering of institutions, of norms, of principles, or
of
remedies, and signifies that the central institution, or higher norm,
should be invoked only where the more local institution,
or concrete
norm, or detailed principle or remedy, does not avail.”
As such, directly relying on the Constitution is
impermissible. An
application of this kind triggers the provisions of PAIA, but there
are exceptions to its application. One exception
is when the
constitutionality of PAIA is being challenged and the second
exception is when the circumstances outlined in section
7(1) of PAIA
apply. The former exception does not apply in this matter as none of
the parties have sought to challenge the constitutionality
of PAIA.
The latter exception ought to be inquired into. Section 7(1) of PAIA
provides that:
“
This
Act does not apply to a record of a public body or a private body if-
(a)
That record is requested for the purpose
of criminal or civil proceedings;
(b)
So requested after the commencement of
such criminal or civil proceedings, as the case may be, and
(c)
The production of or access to that
record for the purpose referred to in paragraph (a) is provided for
in any other law.”
[25]
It is worth noting that the purpose of
section 7(1) in limiting the applicability of PAIA is to
“
Prevent
PAIA from having any impact on the law relating to discovery or
compulsion of evidence in civil and criminal proceedings.”
[9]
The
purpose of this bar is to ensure that parties involved are governed
by the applicable rules of court, it is not to prevent parties
access
to information that they may be entitled to. Hence section 7(2) of
PAIA, which stipulates that evidence obtained in contravention
of
section 7(1) of PAIA will be inadmissible unless a court of law is of
the opinion that its inadmissibility will be detrimental
to the
interests of justice.
[10]
[26]
In
this application, it is common cause that the requirements set out in
subsections (a) and (b) of section 7(1) of PAIA have been
established
because 7(1) sets a three-legged test, merely satisfying the
requirements set out in subsections (a) and (b) of section
7(1) of
PAIA will not suffice, subsection (c) of section 7(1) of PAIA needs
to be met as well. The Supreme Court of Appeal in
Industrial
Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd v PFE International Inc.
(BVI) and Others
[11]
held that “
all
three of the requirements of s 7(1) must be met in order to render
PAIA inapplicable to the request.”
This was further confirmed by the Constitutional Court in
PFE
International Inc (BVI)
supra.
[27]
As
a result, the outstanding question becomes whether the requirement in
subsection 7(1)(c) has been established, in that, whether
the
production of or access to sought records is provided in any other
law. “’Other law’ refers in this context
to the
body of law which includes the rules relating to discovery,
disclosure and privilege. In other words, if access to information
is
requested for the purpose of criminal proceedings the right thereto
has to be sought elsewhere. As was said in
Unitas
Hospital v Van Wyk and Another
,
[12]
in the context of civil proceedings,
‘
once
court proceedings between the parties have commenced, the rules of
discovery take over’.”
[own emphasis].
[28]
The sought information can be accessed
by means of a subpoena in terms of
section 35(1)
of the
Superior
Courts Act 10 of 2013
which stipulates that “A party to
proceedings before any Superior Court in which the attendance of
witnesses or the production
of any document or thing is required, may
procure the attendance of any witness or the production of any
document or thing in the
manner provided for in the rules of that
court”.
Section 35(1)
of the
Superior Courts Act can
be read
with rule 38(1) of the Uniform Rules of Court which can be used at
any stage of any proceedings. Rule 38(1) allows for
any party
desiring inter
alia
the
production of any document or thing to have access to such document
or thing through a subpoena. Also, rule 35 of the Uniform
Rules of
Court which allows for the discovery, inspection and production of
documents can also be explored as an avenue to access
the sought
information. Resultantly, I find PAIA not applicable in this matter.
[29]
Considering that the respondent’s
opposition to this application was anchored on the provisions of the
Regulation of Interception
of Communications and Provision of
Communication-Related Information Act 70 of 2002 (RICA) and its
regulations, this aspect requires
consideration hereunder.
[30]
The interception or monitoring of
certain communications in South Africa is governed by RICA. Section
12 of RICA provides the following
regarding the prohibition of
provision of communication-related information:
“
Subject
to this Act, no telecommunication service provider or employee of a
telecommunication service provider may intentionally
provide or
attempt to provide any real-time or archived communication-related
information to any person other than the customer
of the
telecommunication service provider concerned to whom such real-time
or archived communication related information relates.”
[31]
In addition, the Independent
Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), established by
section 3
of the
Independent Communications Authority of South Africa
Act 13 of 2000
, which is responsible for regulating
telecommunications
inter alia,
prescribes regulations in terms of
section 69(1)
of the
Electronic
Communications Act 36 of 2005
which stipulates the following:
“
69
Code of conduct, end-user and subscriber service charter:
The
Authority must, as soon as reasonably possible after the coming into
force of this Act, prescribe regulations setting out a
code of
conduct for licensees subject to this Act and persons exempted from
holding a licence in terms of section 6 to the extent
such persons
provide a service to the public.”
[32]
Empowered
by section 69(1) above, ICASA prescribed regulations in respect of
the code of conduct for electronic communications and
electronic
communications network service licences.
[13]
The relevant paragraph of the said regulations is paragraph 3.8.
titled ‘Consumer Confidentiality’ which stipulates
that:
“
Licensees
must protect the confidentiality of consumer information, and in
particular, must-
(a)
Use the information only for the
purpose permitted or required,
(b)
Report or release that
information only to the consumer or prospective consumer
,
(c)
Only release that information to
another person:
(i)
When directed by the written
instruction of the consumer or prospective consumer, or
(ii)
When directed by an order of a
court;
(iii)
During the process of collection
of debts owed to the licensees to accredited debt collection
agencies;
(iv)
By the licensees’ auditors
for the purpose of auditing their accounts; and
(v)
In terms of any applicable law.”
[33]
Paragraph 3.8 essentially stipulates
that telecommunication service provider may release
communications-related information only
to consumers or prospective
consumers of the telecommunication service provider subject to
certain exceptions, exceptions which
are not present in this matter.
[34]
That is to say that the real-time or
archived communication referred to in RICA and the Regulations, can
be released, upon request,
to the telecommunication service
providers’ consumers or prospective consumers subject to
certain exceptions (which, as I
have found, are not applicable in
this matter).
[35]
This requires the person requesting
information to show that they are a consumer of the service provider
and as a result, they are
entitled to the information requested.
Section 1 of RICA defines a ‘customer’ as:
“…
any
person—
(a)
to whom an electronic
communication service provider provides an electronic communications
service, including an employee of the
electronic communication
service provider or any person who receives or received such service
as a gift, reward, favour, benefit
or donation;
(b)
who has entered into a contract
with an electronic communication service provider for the provision
of an electronic communications
service, including a pre-paid
electronic communications service; or
(c)
where applicable—
(i)
to whom an electronic
communication service provider in the past has provided an electronic
communications service; or
(ii)
who has, in the past, entered into a
contract with an electronic communication service provider for the
provision of an electronic
communications service, including a
pre-paid electronic communications service;”
[36]
Provided that the applicant is a
customer in terms of the definition set out in the RICA, he will be
entitled to having the communication-related
information released to
him as envisaged by section 12 of the RICA and the ICASA Regulations
set out above.
[37]
It
is noteworthy that the applicant merely averred in his founding
affidavit that the number for which the records are sought belongs
to
him. Any other averment or argument advanced by the applicant in this
regard, was raised in his replying affidavit and second
set of heads
of argument. It is trite in law that in motion proceedings “an
applicant must stand or fall by his or her founding
affidavit.”
[14]
That is to say that new facts or evidence or grounds for the
application cannot be made in the replying affidavit, this extends
to
the heads of argument which should just be a summary of the legal
issues, arguments and authorities relied on. New facts or
evidence
cannot be introduced at this stage.
[38]
To
establish that he is a customer of the respondent, the applicant
introduced new facts in his second sets of heads of argument
as set
out above, in which inter
alia
he annexed confirmatory affidavits of his wife and ex-wife attesting
that the number in question belongs to him or belonged to
him prior
to and during the robbery for which he is incarcerated and as a
result, he was a customer to the respondent. In such
instances where
additional information is added in the replying affidavit (and by
extension, the heads of argument) the court has
a judicial discretion
to exercise, it can either permit or strike out the additional
information.
[15]
[39]
In addition, to make out his case, the
applicant makes reference to the privileged communication (labelled
‘without prejudice’)
from the respondent in which the
respondent admitted to having handed the sought information to the
National Prosecuting Authority
for the applicant’s criminal
trial, following a section 205 subpoena and essentially advising the
applicant to withdraw his
application.
[40]
The
principles that are applicable to privileged communications were set
out by the court in
Groep
v Golden Arrow Bus Services (Pty) Ltd and a Related Matter
[16]
as follows:
“
It
is by now trite that communications exchanged by litigants in the
course of legal proceedings in a bona fide endeavour to resolve
their
differences are protected from subsequent disclosure at trial and
from admission into evidence.”
In
Naidoo
Trollip JA observed that the rule is based upon considerations of
public policy to encourage the extra curial resolution of disputes:
‘
The
rationale of the rule is public policy: parties to disputes are to be
encouraged to avoid litigation and all the expenses (nowadays
very
high), delays, hostility, and inconvenience it usually entails, by
resolving their differences amicably in full and frank
discussions
without the fear that, if the negotiations fail, any admissions made
by them during such discussions will be used against
them in the
ensuing litigation.’
[17]
[41]
However, there are exception to this
rule. One exception is if the privileged communication is an
admission of insolvency, another
exception is if the privileged
communication is an acknowledgment of liability that interrupts the
running of prescription as contemplated
in section 14 of the
Prescription Act. None of these exceptions exist in this
matter. As such, the without prejudice correspondence
from the
respondent remain inadmissible and stand to be struck from the
record.
[42]
Since
the applicant is unrepresented by a legal practitioner, it is
important to note what the court in
NS
v MFS
[18]
said in paragraph 3 regarding leniency to self-representing
litigants:
“
The
legal processes and filing notices, affidavits and other documents
may be a maze for parties seeking to represent themselves
in action
proceedings. There is a delicate dance between adhering strictly to
the rules of the court, to ensure that the process
runs smoothly and
allowing some leniency towards a self-representing litigant who may
not have a bird’s eye view of how the
law as a system operates
or know about the intricate details of the law and legal processes,
to ensure that both parties are genuinely
heard.”
[43]
This is to say that while there is a
strict requirement to comply with the court rules, courts can be
flexible and grant leniency
to a self-representing litigant who may
be a layman in law. Ideally in matters like the one before this
court, on fairness and
policy grounds, the court could grant leniency
regarding the admissibility of new facts or evidence in the replying
affidavit and
heads of argument and the admissibility of privileged
communication. However, the issue of the time lapse for storage of
communication-related
information, discussed below, does not
necessitate such leniency.
[44]
Regarding the storage of the
communication-related information, RICA finds application again.
According to section 30(1)(b) of RICA,
telecommunication service
providers are obligated to store communication-related information,
as stipulated below:
“
Notwithstanding
any other law, a telecommunication service provider must –
(a)
…
(b)
Store communication-related information.”
[45]
To give effect to section 30(1)(b) of
RICA, section 30(7)(a) read with section 30(2)(ii)(bb) of RICA,
stipulate that a directive
in respect of the storage of
communication-related information must be issued by the Minister of
Communications, as stipulated
below:
“
30.
Interception capability of telecommunication services and storing of
communication-related information.
(7)
The Cabinet member responsible for communications must, within two
months after the fixed date and in consultation with the
Minister and
other relevant Ministers and after consultation with the Authority
and a telecommunication service provider or category
of
telecommunication service providers to whom, prior to the fixed date,
a telecommunication service licence has been issued under
the
Electronic Communications Act-
>
Issue
a directive referred to in subsection (2)(a) in respect of such a
telecommunication service provider or category of telecommunication
service providers; and …”
[46]
Read with
section 30(2)(a)
below:
“
30.
Interception capability of telecommunication services and storing of
communication-related information.
(1)
The
Cabinet member responsible for communications, in consultation with
the Minister and the other relevant Ministers and after
consultation
with the Authority and the telecommunication service provider or
category of telecommunication service provides concerned,
must, on
the date of the issuing of a telecommunication service licence under
the
Electronic Communications Act, to
such a telecommunication
service provider or category of telecommunication service provides-
(a)
issue a directive in respect of that
telecommunication service provider or category of telecommunication
service providers, determining
the-
(i)
security, technical and functional
requirements of the facilities and devices to be acquired by the
telecommunication service provider
or category of telecommunication
service providers to enable the-
…
(bb)
storing of communication-related information in terms of subsection
(1)(b);
[47]
Pursuant
to the above provisions, the Minister of Communications issued a
directive in respect of different categories of telecommunications
service providers.
[19]
The
relevant parts pertaining to the storage of communication-related
information is paragraph 17 of
part 5
of the directives under
schedule B, which stipulates the following:
“
17.
Period for which communication-related information must be stored-
Communication-related information, whether real-time or archived
communication-related information, must be stored for a cumulative
period of three (3) years from the date on which the indirect
communication to which the communication-related information relates,
is recorded.”
[48]
The
nett outcome of the above is that the telecommunication service
providers are obligated to retain and store real-time or archived
communication-related information of their customers for a cumulative
period of 3 (three) years before destroying it, as such,
there is no
existing obligation on the respondent to still have the sought
information. Moreover, considering the submission by
the respondent
that it cannot provide the information sought by the applicant
because it no longer exists, it is important to note
that the court
cannot make an order that will be impossible to comply with as this
would be setting up “the offending party
to contempt
proceedings for not procuring something he did not have in the first
place and exposes the order to ridicule.”
[20]
E.
CONCLUSION
[49]
On the first question up for
determination, the applicant has not made out a case that he is
entitled in law to the requested information.
On the second issue, I
find that the relief sought by the applicant is not legally competent
due to the lapse of time.
[50]
In
the result, the application cannot succeed. What remains to be
decided is the question of costs. The applicant is in a precarious
position of being incarcerated. He acted in pursuance of his rights.
His situation is thus as envisaged in the sage decision of
the
Constitutional
Court in Biowatch Trust v Registrar Genetic Resources
[21]
with the understanding
mutatis
mutandis
,
that although not a State entity, the respondent is a corporate
entity of formidable stature compared to the applicant. The
application
was also not informed by any malice on the part of the
applicant.
[51]
The following order is made:
The
application is dismissed. I make no order as to costs.
J.S.
NYATHI
Judge
of the High Court
Gauteng
Division, Pretoria
Date
of hearing: 05 October 2023
Date
of Judgment: 06 March 2024
On
behalf of the Applicant: In person
On
behalf of the Respondent: Adv. Mahlalela
Email:
Adv.Mahlalela@gmail.com
Tel:
071 284 5000
Delivery
:
This judgment was handed down electronically by circulation to the
parties' legal representatives by email and uploaded on the
Caselines
electronic platform. The date for hand-down is deemed to be
06
March 2024
.
[1]
Regulation
of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication
Related Information Act No. 70 of 2002.
[2]
1998 (2) SA 109 (W).
[3]
1998 (2) SA 109
(W) para 20.
[4]
1998 (2) SA 109
(W) para 21.
[5]
[2005] ZACC 14; 2006 (2) SA 311 (CC); 2006 (1) BCLR 1 (CC).
[6]
[2005] ZACC 14
;
2006 (2) SA 311
(CC);
2006 (1) BCLR 1
(CC) para 437.
[7]
[2012] ZACC 21; 2013 (1) SA 1 (CC); 2013 (1) BCLR 55 (CC).
[8]
[2012] ZACC 21
;
2013 (1) SA 1
(CC);
2013 (1) BCLR 55
(CC) para 4.
[9]
Industrial Corporation of South Africa Ltd v PFE International and
Others
2012 (2) SA 269
(SCA) para 9.
[10]
Section 7(2) of
Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000
.
[11]
Supra
[2011] ZASCA 245
;
2012 (2) SA 269
(SCA);
[2012] 2 All SA 71
(SCA)
para 8.
[12]
National Director of Public Prosecutions v King
2010 (7) BCLR 656
(SCA) para 39.
[13]
Regulations relating to the Code of Conduct for Electronic
Communications and Electronic Communications Network Services
Licences,
GN 1740 GG 30553, 7 December 2007.
[14]
Mokoena and Others v Lengoabala; In re: Lengoabala v Nhlapo and
Others
[2016] ZAFSHC 4
para 7.
[15]
Faber v Nazerian [2013] ZAGPJHC 65 at paragraph 22 and 23.
[16]
[2018] 1 All SA 508 (WCC).
[17]
[2018] 1 All SA 508
(WCC) para 31.
[18]
[2023] JOL 60905
GJ para 3.
[19]
Directives in respect of Different Categories of Telecommunications
Services Providers made in terms of the Regulation of Interception
of Communication-Related Information Act (70/2002), GN 1325 GG
28271, 28 November 2005.
[20]
Makate v Vodacom (Pty) Ltd
[2013] JOL 30668
(GSJ) para 16.
[21]
2009
(6) SA 232
(CC)
sino noindex
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