Abstract
In this chapter, we examine the growth of public space and communication surveillance practices in the southern African region. This chapter makes the argument that in southern Africa, (il)legitimate fears of crime and terrorism have led to the increasing normalization of both public and communication space surveillance. In making this argument, the chapter traces the growth of both public space and communication surveillance, noting that the growth of public space surveillance infrastructures in countries like South Africa and Zimbabwe lacks both transparency and accountability. Simultaneously, the growth of these infrastructures of surveillance in the region has promoted the emergency of a global surveillance cottage industry that hugely depends on the southern African market for capital.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Harare city council public camera installation project has been covered widely here: https://allafrica.com/stories/202003190465.html. It has also been report here: https://www.herald.co.zw/city-council-installs-surveillance-cameras/, and here: https://www.263chat.com/harare-city-council-rolls-out-traffic-surveillance-cameras/.
- 2.
The multi-million projects have been reported here: https://allafrica.com/stories/202108130734.html.
- 3.
Surveillance by the South Africa Revenue Authority has busted organized criminal tax evasion syndicates: https://media.africaportal.org/documents/OrgCrimeReviewDec2010.pdf.
- 4.
One case can be flowed here: https://www.traffic.org/site/assets/files/2662/south_africa_vietnam_rhino_horn_nexus.pdf.
- 5.
The case can be followed here: https://www.concourt.org.za/index.php/judgement/383-amabhungane-centre-for-investigative-journalism-npc-and-another-v-minister-of-justice-and-correctional-services-and-others-minister-of-police-v-amabhungane-centre-for-investigative-journalism-npc-and-others-cct278-19-cct279-19.
- 6.
You can follow the story here: https://www.news24.com/news24/africa/zimbabwe/zimbabwe-judge-says-military-action-against-mugabe-was-legal-20171125.
- 7.
- 8.
References
Andrejevic, M. (2007). iSpy: Surveillance and Power in the Interactive Era. University Press of Kansas.
Benjamin, J. Goold, (2010). “How Much Surveillance is Too Much? Some Thoughts on Surveillance, Democracy, and the Political Value of Privacy” in DW Schartum, ed, Overvåkning i en rettsstat – Surveillance in a Constitutional Government. Fagbokforlaget: Bergen.
Bloomberg. (2019a). China Probes Government, Bosses as Chip Race with US Heats Up. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-29/china-probes-government-bosses-as-chip-race-with-us-heats-up
Bloomberg. (2019b). China Commits to Trade Talks Amid ‘Groundless Huawei Moves. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-24/china-says-committed-to-trade-deal-calls-huawei-move-unusual
Cade M. (2019). Facial Recognition Tech Is Growing Stronger, Thanks to Your Face. New York Times, July 13, 2019. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/13/technology/databases-faces-facial-recognition-technology.html
Carr, J. G., Bellia, P. L., & Creutz, E. A. (1986). The Law of Electronic Surveillance (pp. 3–7). C. Boardman Company.
Checa, M (2020). The “normalisation of mass surveillance” could pose a threat to social mobilisation, warns digital rights advocate. Accessed on 12 April 2022 on: https://www.equaltimes.org/the-normalisation-of-mass.
Crime South Africa. (2020). Crime Statistics in South Africa. Retrieved April 23, 2021, from https://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=15168
Dlamini, S. (2020). Citizens’ Satisfaction with the South African Police Services and Community Police Forums in Durban, South Africa. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanity Studies, 12(2), 593–606.
Duncan, J. (2018). Stopping the Spies: Constructing and Resisting the Surveillance State in South Africa. NYU Press.
Frey, T., 2017. Remaking cities: an introduction to urban metrofitting. Lonidon: Bloomsbury Publishing.
Gonçalves, F. (2020). Camaras de vigilância: como o governo usa as tecnologias para controlar os cidadãos, Jornal Savana, Ano XXVIII, numero 1379, Maputo, 12 de Junho.
Greenwald, G. (2014). No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the US Surveillance State. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hall, R., 2017. Surveillance and public space. In Green, M.C. and Fitzgerald, K., 2017. Oxford research encyclopedia of communication. Oxford University Press.
Harris, B. L. (2021). Activists Worried Street Cameras Could be Used to Spy on Citizens. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://cite.org.zw/activists-worried-street-cameras-could-be-used-to-spy-on-citizens/
Hawkins, A. (2018). Beijing’s Big Brother Tech Needs African Faces: Zimbabwe Is Signing Up for China’s Surveillance State, but Its Citizens Will Pay the Price. In: Foreign Policy, 24 July 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2019, from https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/07/24/beijings-big-brother-tech-needs-african-faces/
Jones, R. H. (2015). Surveillance. In The Routledge Handbook of Language and Digital Communication (pp. 408–411). Routledge.
Joy, M. T., & Kani, R. M. (2013). Emerging Opportunities and Challenges for Cottage Industries in India. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 3(3), 1–4.
KWET, M. 2021. The City Surveillance State: Inside Johannesburg’s Safe City Initiative. South African Institute of International Affairs. Accessible at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/resrep32546. Accessed on 13 May 2021.
Lucero, K. (2019). Artificial Intelligence Regulation and China’s Future. Columbia Journal of Asian Law, 33, 94.
Lyon, D. (2007). Surveillance Studies. Polity Press.
Masunungure, E. (2012). Zimbabwe’s Militarized, Electoral Authoritarianism. Journal of International Affairs, 65(1), 47–64.
Media Policy and Democracy Project Report. (2019). Drifting Towards Darkness: An Exploratory Research of State Surveillance in Post-2000 Zimbabwe. Retrieved January 12, 2020, from https://www.mediaanddemocracy.com/uploads/1/6/5/7/16577624/zimbabwe_report_2nd_pages.pdf
Mofomme, T. J. (2001). Culture in the South African Police Services. Crime Research in South Africa, 3(3), 1–19.
Munoriyarwa, A. (2021). When Watchdogs Fight Back: Resisting State Surveillance in Everyday Investigative Reporting Practices among Zimbabwean Journalists. Journal of Eastern African Studies, 15(3), 421–441.
Munoriyarwa, A., & Chiumbu, S. (2022). Powers, Interests and Actors: The Influence of China in Africa’s Digital Surveillance Practices. In A. K. Farooq (Ed.), Digital Dissidence and Social Media Censorship in Africa. Routledge.
Murray, D. and Fussey, P., 2019. Bulk surveillance in the digital age: Rethinking the human rights law approach to bulk monitoring of communications data. Israel Law Review, 52(1), 31–60.
Nehanda Radio. (2018). Bulawayo Installs First Traffic Cameras. Retrieved June 12, 2021, from https://nehandaradio.com/2018/10/26/bulawayo-installs-first-traffic-cameras/
New Zimbabwe.Com. (2021). Government Approves Massive Surveillance for Bulawayo. Retrieved June 4, 2022, from https://www.newzimbabwe.com/government-approves-massive-surveillance-for-bulawayo/
Newell, B. C., Timan, T., & Koops, B. J. (Eds.). (2018). Surveillance, Privacy and Public Space. Routledge.
Newham, G., Masuku, T., & Gomomo, L. (2002). Metropolitan Police Services in South Africa, 2002. Center for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation.
Nhanale, E. (2021). Electronic Surveillance in Mozambique: The Risks and Suspicions in a Context of Authoritarianism and Military Conflict. Media Policy and Democracy Project. Johannesburg. https://www.mediaanddemocracy.com/uploads/1/6/5/7/16577624/report_04_2021_electronic_surveillance_mozambique_masterset.pdf
O’Brien, P. J. (2017). Early State Economics: Cahokia, Capital of the Ramey State. In Early State Economics (pp. 143–175). Routledge.
Peebles, C. S., & Kus, S. M. (1989). Some Archaeological Correlates of Ranked Societies. American Antiquity, 42(3), 421–448.
Peppers, D., & Rogers, M. (2009). The Societal Benefits of Data-Sharing. http://www.1to1media.com/View.aspx?DocId=31350
Pew Research Centre. (2014). Investigative Journalists and Digital Security Perceptions of Vulnerability and Changes in Behavior. www.journalism.org//investigative-journalists-perceptions-about-the- surveillance climate
Phakhathi, S. (2019). Theft of Telecommunications Assets a Threat to Smart Cities Initiative. Retrieved December 13, 2021, from https://www.joburg.org.za/media_/Newsroom/Pages/2019%20Newsroom%20Articles/May%202019/Theft-of-telecommunications-assets-a-threat-to-Smart-City-initiative.aspx
Prentice, G. (1983). Cottage Industries: Concepts and Implications. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, 8(1), 17–48.
Privacy International. (2019). Communication surveillance technologies; an explainer. Accessed on 23 February 2022 at: https://privacyinternational.org/learn/comms-surveillance-tech
Rangongo, T., 2019. SA’s top-rated online trading platforms. finweek, 2019(10), 28–36.
Roelf, N. L. (2020). Decentralising the South African Police Service: Does South Africa’s Current Public Safety Crisis and the De Facto Decentralising of Policing Necessitate a Critical Evaluation of its Present Policing Model? University of Cape Town, Faculty of Law, Department of Public Law. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/33014
Schmidt, B., & Venus Feng, V. (2019). Big Brother Billionaires Get Rich as China Watches Everyone. Borneo Bulletin. Retrieved July 14, 2021, from https://borneobulletin.com.bn/big-brother-billionaires-get-rich-as-china-watches-everyone/
Slobogin, C. (2002). Public Privacy: Camera Surveillance of Public Places and the Right to Anonymity. Mississippi Law Journal, 72, 213.
TechZim. (2018). Bulawayo Council Testing Out Traffic Cameras. Retrieved May 12, 2021, from https://www.techzim.co.zw/2018/10/bulawayo-city-council-testing-out-traffic-cameras/
The Economist. (2018). Why Cape Town’s Murder Rate Is Rising. Retrieved June 12, 2022, from https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2018/10/04/why-cape-towns-murder-rate-is-rising
The Economist Intelligence. (2015). India’s Diamond Industry Faces Hard Times: The World’s Most Remarkable Cottage Industry Is Under Pressure. https://www.economist.com/asia/2015/11/11/indias-diamond-industry-faces-hard-times
The Herald. (2020) Council Installs Surveillance Cameras. Retrieved September 15, 2021, from https://www.herald.co.zw/city-council-installs-surveillance-cameras/
The Standard. (2020). Privacy Violations Fears Grow as Government Plans Data Centre. Retrieved February 3, 2021 and January 12, 2022, from https://www.pressreader.com/zimbabwe/the-standard-zimbabwe/20200621/281844350894125
Tsandzana, D. (2016, 16 May). Mozambican Government Is Spying on Its Citizens According to @Verdade. Global Voices. https://advox.globalvoices.org/2016/05/16/the-government-of-mozambique-is-spying-on-its-citizens-according-to-verdade
Tsandzana, D. (2021). In Mozambique, a Tug of War Between Public Health and Digital Rights During the Pandemic. https://globalvoices.org/2021/01/19/in-mozambique-a-tug-of-war-between-public-health-and-digital-rights-during-the-pandemic/
United Nations Human Rights Council. (2013). Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Expression, Frank La Rue. A/HRC/23/40.
Väyrynen, R. (2005). Illegal Immigration, Human Trafficking and Organized Crime. In Poverty, International Migration and Asylum (pp. 143–170). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Welle, D. (2017) Security vs Privacy: The Silence of Authorities Over Video Cameras in Maputo and Matola. Retrieved March 10, 2022, from https://clubofmozambique.com/news/security-vs-privacy-the-silence-of-the-authorities-over-video-cameras-in-maputo-and-matola/
Wood, D.M. and Webster, C.W.R., 2011. Innovating Government. Berlin: TMC Asser Press.
World Bank. (2018). Overcoming Poverty and Inequality in South Africa: An Assessment of Drivers, Constraints and Opportunities. World Bank.Org. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/530481521735906534/Overcoming-Poverty-and-Inequality-in-South-Africa-An-Assessment-of-Drivers-Constraints-and-Opportunities
Zimbabwe Daily. (2022). Zimbabwe Government Planes to Set Surveillance Cameras on Streets. Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://www.zimdaily.com/zim-government-plans-to-set-surveillance-cameras-on-streets/
Zimbabwe Law Society. (2021). The coup ruling in Zimbabwe. Accessed on 3 May 2022 at: https://www.timesofisrael.com/zimbabwe-judge-rulesmilitary-action-against-mugabe-was-legal/.
Zuboff, S. (2015). Big Other: Surveillance Capitalism and the Prospects of an Information Civilization. Journal of Information Technology, 30, 75–89.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Munoriyarwa, A., Mare, A. (2022). Public Space and Communication Surveillance. In: Digital Surveillance in Southern Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16636-5_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-16636-5_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-16635-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-16636-5
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)