Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News, 2015-01-30
The proposed amendments to the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) regulations to include unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) leave loopholes for the use of weaponised drones in South Africa, and do not take into account the right to privacy.
The proposed amendments were tabled for discussion on the 26th January by the CAA.
Karen Jayes, spokesperson for CAGE Africa said the CAA originally had no regulations governing the use of drones or UAVs.
“Drones have actually been used for some time in the Western Cape especially for aerial photography.”
“As a result of quite a few discussions between the Western Cape government and private companies who were offering to provide them with UAVs as well as the purchase of several controversial UAVs in Gauteng, the CAA realized there was a need to put together some regulations governing them,” said Jayes.
Jayes said she and Jane Duncan, an academic from the University of Johannesburg and author of ‘Rise of the Securocrats’ submitted concerns which includes the right to privacy of a South African citizen is not really mentioned at all in the regulations.
“There are also large loopholes for the use of weaponised drones in South Africa or drones that spray pepper sprays at protestors or tear gas which there are such drones, and those drones have been purchased in South Africa.”
“The proposed amendments for UAVs do not protect the security and privacy of citizens and leave room for abuse by private companies and government. They can easily cause South Africa to slip into a surveillance state,” she said.
Jayes said the CAA, which is under direct ministerial control would have the ultimate say in terms of what drones will be used and it will also govern the licencing and operating of drones.
She is also concerned that because the CAA is under direct ministerial control, drones for mass surveillance would be far easier to purchase and would pass easily through the relevant authorities.
“There doesn’t seem to be any kind of parliamentary process that a drone like that would have to pass through as would be the case of other moves that infringe on privacy.”
Jayes said that if a drone had to crash in a school or close to a person’s home, the final accountability for drone operations lies with the pilot, not with the company or government that has facilitated the mission. “This leaves those whose rights have been infringed upon by UAV missions little recourse to justice.”
In the wake of events in Paris, scientists have said that mass surveillance does not help to avert such tragedies, but rather diverts intelligence resources in pursuing large numbers of false leads.
The UAVs are being touted as cheap and advanced solutions to disaster management and city planning – but as has been in the case in the United States, drones have been introduced on the basis of the good they can do, while their more sinister uses such as surveillance and defence comes into play later on.
Two companies have been mentioned so far in connection with drone tests in South Africa: SkyCap, a UK-based company that operates ‘security’ drones in Afghanistan; and Desert Wolf, a company based in Pretoria that is the representative of FLIR Systems, which is also contracted to the US Department of Homeland Security.
Jayes said CAGE agreed that drones could be useful in some circumstances, but there must be some sort of complaints mechanism and sanctions – such as the loss of a licence, a fine or criminal sanction – if a drone is used for purposes other than licenced, or in ways that infringe upon constitutional rights.
“We have the support of The Right to Know Campaign in our submissions. The CAA has been for the most part been very approachable on the issue. The complaints section should allow for civil society to lodge complaints, for complaints to be investigated and for sanctions against the illegal use of drones to be imposed by a panel or body of the CAA.”
“As it stands, the final approval for drone operations involving people lies with the Director who defers to the Operations Manual of the craft. The Operations Manual, in turn, remains far from public scrutiny,” said Jayes.
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