Mernat Mafirakurewa, AfricaNews reporter in Johannesburg, South Africa Photo: Kevinzim
South Africa has passed a new law that compels all cell phone users to register their SIM cards. Users who fail to register would be barred from their network services.
The new law came into effect on July 1 2009. It seeks to assist the country’s law enforcement agencies investigate and combat serious crimes.
In a joint statement to the public MTN, Cell C and Vodacom said all cell phone subscribers have to show proof of identity as well as present a utility bill to show proof of residence to be registered.
Customers have been given 18 months from the implementation date to register both their prepaid and contract SIM cards. The legislation would make it easy to law enforcement agencies to trace a person suspected of having been involved in a crime.
The law will prohibit cell phone service providers from July 1 to activate a new SIM card unless they had captured the customer's cell number, full names, identity number and address, and verified the information.
When registering, customers would need to have with them their cell phone number, full names and surname, and ID number or passport number. Proof of identity should be provided by a green barcoded ID document, an ID card, temporary ID certificate, or passport.
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