Nearly 3 million SIM cards risk being cut off next week – and South Africans who still haven’t registered will have no-one to blame but themselves.
With just one week to go before the Rica cut-off date on June 30, service providers have gone into overdrive to get outstanding users to register their SIM cards, sending out SMSes, press releases and radio adverts on a daily basis.
But not everyone seems to be listening.
According to Vodacom, 1.4 million SIM cards of their 26.5 million customer base are still unregistered. Another million MTN pre-paid and 100 000 contract SIM cards are not registered either.
All SIM cards on the new Telkom network, 8ta, are already registered, as the network was launched after the Rica legislation was passed in 2009. Any contracts taken out since then on any network should also have been automatically registered.
But add to that about 350 000 Cell C unregistered SIM cards and an additional 30 000 from Virgin Mobile, and approximately 2.88 million phone numbers won’t be ringing come July 1.
Not that that’s the end of the world.
Users will be able to get their numbers unblocked by following the same Rica process they’ve spent the past two years avoiding: taking their phone, ID and proof of residence to any participating outlet and getting their SIM cards registered. Reconnection should take a day or two.
Procrastinate for another six months, however, and the number will be deleted from the system and recycled.
Yes, it’s a hassle, but service providers have stressed the importance of the legislation, which was introduced to help combat crime.
“I relate with the concerns that have been raised by our customers,” said MTN SA customer service executive Eddie Moyce. “Will I sleep better at night knowing my privacy has been compromised because my cellphone operator has, under threat of expulsion from their network, requested that I avail my personal details?
“The registration of all SIM and data cards is integral to the government’s plans of curbing crime which is often perpetrated with the help and usage of cellphone technology.”
Rica is the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act. The law is designed to make it possible for law- enforcement agencies to identify the users of specific cellphone numbers and track alleged criminals using cellphones for illegal activities.
The Rica Act has been a legal requirement from July 1, 2009. Everyone with a cellphone number is required to Rica their phone. The first deadline was in December 2010. The June 30, 2011, deadline is the final opportunity for users to register their SIM cards.