MADLANGA J fair hearing guaranteed by section 34 of the Constitution. The argument continued that this is exacerbated by the fact that the interception direction is final, unlike most other ex parte orders, which are granted on an interim basis. As a result, the applicants suggested that there should be some form of adversarial process to ensure that the interests of the subject of surveillance are properly protected and ventilated before an interception direction is granted. According to them the task of safeguarding the interests of the subject should be performed by a “public advocate”. [98] While the High Court agreed with the applicants that the ex parte nature of the process renders RICA unconstitutional, it held that it was not well-placed to consider the security risks, or the method for selecting, vetting and briefing public advocates. It further noted that there are other options that could be adopted to deal with the ex parte issue. As a result, it simply declared section 16(7) unconstitutional “to the extent that it fails to provide for a system for a public advocate or other appropriate safeguards to deal with the fact that the orders in question are granted ex parte”.141 It did not grant any interim relief. [99] In this Court, the applicants again refer to the institution of a public advocate as a potential solution to the ex parte issue. However, here they argue that the option merely demonstrates that less restrictive means exist. I agree only that surely means that can temper the effects of the ex parte nature of the process do exist. The risk of abuse of the ex parte process highlights the general deficiencies in RICA. With more and better safeguards, chances of unlawful intrusions into privacy would be minimised. I prefer not to comment on the participation of a public advocate as one such safeguard. The choice of safeguards to address the inadequacies resulting from the ex parte nature of the process is something best left to Parliament. And those need not be an adversarial process. If Parliament opts for that process, that is its choice. 141 Emphasis added. 55