The information regulator on Wednesday served an “information notice” on the SAPS, calling for a complete breakdown on the handling of the details of the eight women who survived a gang rape by a group of armed men.
This comes after the names, ages, addresses and other details of the women were shared on social media last week in what is a violation of the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia), and therefore unlawful.
The regulator was informed of the leak and took the decision to investigate the matter, meaning it is classified as an “own initiative assessment”, and therefore there is no complainant.
Speaking on behalf of the regulator, attorney Alison Tilley said that because the sharing of the list of victims and other information was a violation of Popia, those in possession of it were guilty of an offence and should destroy the document and not spread it any further.
She said the leaking of information pertaining to sexual assault survivors was not only traumatic for them, but tantamount to secondary victimisation.
Information like this should be carefully protected. It falls into a category that has particular prohibitions, including issues around health, a person’s sex life and criminal behaviour.
— Attorney Alison Tilley
Tilley said the regulator — which has been in existence since July last year when the legislation came into effect — has undertaken to use its powers to compel the police to explain how the women’s details were handled, processed and who had access the information and why.
“Information like this should be carefully protected. It falls into a category that has particular prohibitions, including issues around health, a person’s sex life and criminal behaviour. And this case involves all of those,” Tilley said.
“The act doesn’t say that information cannot be processes or distributed. But it does say that this kind of special, personal information may only be processed to establish a person’s rights, or for an obligation in law. So we are entitled to ask for a full account of how that information was taken and handled, why this was done and what the end purpose was,” Tilley said.
The information notice gives the police until Monday August 15 to comply, failing which the information regulator will invoke an enforcement committee to hand down a formal order to the SAPS.
“If the police don’t comply after that, we have the power to sanction them with a fine or even imprisonment.”
It is understood that some of the women were notified by people in their communities that they were known to be complainants in the much-publicised gang rape incident. They were also visited by police minister Bheki Cele last Monday.
Cele’s office said he had nothing to add when contacted for comment on the regulator’s information notice and referred the request to the police.
Gauteng police spokesperson Brigadier Brenda Muridili said: "As SAPS Gauteng we are not at liberty to comment other institutions’ media releases."
