Parliamentary pique delays RICA

Parliament`s upper house yesterday failed to vote on the Regulation of Interception of Communication and Provision of Communication-related Information Act (RICA) Amendment Bill after a committee decided to “indefinitely defer” clearing the Bill for adoption.

Security and Constitutional Affairs Select Committee chairman Kgoshi Lameck Mokoena last week called on his committee to defer a vote on the Bill until “some people sober up” and took the committee seriously.

The African National Congress, Democratic Alliance and Inkatha Freedom Party endorsed Mokoena`s call. The move may delay the adoption of the Bill by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) into the new year.

The Bill`s passage through the committee was previously delayed by a disagreement between the police and the Department of Justice on the necessity of some of the amendments in the Bill.

Justice and police officials subsequently met and made changes to the Bill, but not entirely to Mokoena`s satisfaction.

According to the Parliamentary Monitoring Group`s minutes of the meeting, Mokoena also undertook to have the Bill removed from yesterday`s NCOP agenda.

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