Today marks 46 years since the 16 June 1976 Soweto Youth Uprising. In the advent of democracy, this day was declared a public holiday to honour the sacrifices and to commemorate the contributions of the youth in the fight against the apartheid regime. It is also a day to reflect on the plethora of issues that plague the present-day youth. [...]
In South Africa, commissioners of oaths are regulated by the Justices of The Peace and Commissioners of Oaths Act (“the Act”).((No. 16 of 1963.)) In terms of the Act, and under normal circumstances, Commissioners of Oaths are required to verify the identity of the person making the sworn statement, they have to ensure that the documents annexed to the affidavit [...]
What are NFTs? NFT stands for non-fungible token. NFTs are considered as a new and emerging technology that is represented by units on the blockchain. In March 2021, the sale of a digital collage by an American artist known as Beeple, intrigued and fascinated many people around the world. The sale price of $69.3 million((https://www.theverge.com/2021/3/11/22325054/beeple-christies-nft-sale-cost-everydays-69-million.)) was remarkable on its own, [...]
The month of October, known as the Cybersecurity Awareness Month, comes at a time when South Africa is reeling from the effects of a plethora of security breaches and cyber attacks that have plagued the country since the beginning of 2021. The most recent security breaches and cyber attacks targeted Transnet and the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. Section [...]
Telkom wants to interdict returning emergency spectrum to ICASA: Why Telkom (MTN and Vodacom) losing is in the public interest Telkom launched legal proceedings against South Africa’s telecommunications regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (“ICASA”), in early October 2021. Telkom wants to interdict returning emergency spectrum to ICASA. ICASA had licensed this spectrum to Telkom, MTN, Vodacom [...]
Today marks the inaugural Global Encryption Day. This is an initiative by the Global Encryption Coalition (“GEC''). The GEC is composed of the Democracy & Technology, Global Partners Digital, the Internet Society and over 180 organisational members including civil society organisations, business and trade associations, and individual members including technical and cybersecurity experts and academics. The initiative is an opportunity for businesses, civil society organisations, technologists, and internet users worldwide to show why encryption matters and why people [...]
On 4 June 2021, the European Commission adopted two new sets of Standard Contractual Clauses (“2021 SCCs”). The 2021 SCC’s will replace the old SCC’s adopted in 2010. The adoption of new SCC’s is to reflect the changes to European Union (“EU”) data privacy law, under the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 ("GDPR") and the Schrems II decision((Case C-311/18 Data Protection Commissioner [...]
Today, 28 September 2021, the world commemorates International Day for Universal Access to Information. It was declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation on 17 November 2015 and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 28 September 2019. This day highlights the importance of access to information laws, and their implementation worldwide in order to promote [...]
What happened with WhatsApp? The case that Max Schrems filed against WhatsApp back in December 2018 has been finalized at last. WhatsApp was recently fined by the Irish Data Protection Commission an amount of 225 million Euros, which is over 3,7 billion Rands. The Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) is the equivalent of the Information Regulator in South Africa. The [...]
For the first time in 16 years, when it seemed like South Africa would finally get new spectrum licensed, legal battles brought the spectrum auction to a standstill. Earlier this year, major telecommunications companies like MTN and Telkom sued the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (“ICASA”), citing various issues to halt the auction. This setback means that spectrum is [...]
