MBABANE – If a newly-gazetted government Bill is anything to go by, the act of tampering with, damaging or stealing critical infrastructure will soon attract fines amounting to E5 million.
The new Bill is known as the Critical Infrastructure Protection Bill, 2025, and in terms of the law, it is set to be tabled in Parliament for debate.
Once it has been passed, it will receive the assent of His Majesty the King, which will mark its official enactment.
Set to be tabled by the Minister for Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) Savannah Maziya, the object of the Bill is to protect and safeguard critical infrastructure against threats of vandalism, sabotage, damage, theft, unlawful destruction and unlawful possession. It is also aimed at empowering the substantive minister to designate infrastructure as critical.
The Bill also seeks to criminalise attacks on critical infrastructure and provide for incidental matters.
In terms of its provisions on prohibited acts as stipulated in Section 3, the Bill provides that a person shall not enter a critical infrastructure area. It further stipulates that a person shall not damage, destroy, tamper with or possess any critical infrastructure or part thereof.
Also provided for in the Bill is that a person shall not obstruct, interrupt or interfere with the construction, maintenance, use or operation of a critical infrastructure in a manner that renders the infrastructure dangerous, useless, inoperative or ineffective.
It will be an offence for a person to aid, counsel, direct or collude with another to commit an offence, whether or not the other person actually commits the offence.
“A person shall not enter on any critical infrastructure area, having obtained by false pretences permission to enter on the critical infrastructure from the owner or an unauthorised representative of the owner, and is deemed to have contravened this section unless the person had a lawful right, justification or excuse to enter on the critical infrastructure,” reads part of the Bill.
It will also be considered an offence for a person to furnish, disseminate or publish in any manner whatsoever information relating to the security measures applicable to or in respect of a critical infrastructure, other than in accordance with an Act of Parliament that provides for the lawful disclosure of information.
Furthermore, the Bill stipulates that a person shall not record, or cause to be recorded, an analogue or digital photographic image, video or film of the security measures at a critical infrastructure area without the express permission of the owner.
“A person shall not hinder, obstruct, or disobey a person in control of critical infrastructure in taking any steps required or ordered in relation to the security of any critical infrastructure,” reads part of the Bill.
According to the Bill, a person will also be held liable if they enter or gain access to a critical infrastructure area without the consent of the security manager or person in control.
“A person shall not be in possession of critical infrastructure or a component of it, in whatever manner or form it may be, without the requisite authority, permission, consent or licence.
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