MADLANGA J saving in time, costs and court resources; it simply makes practical sense. The appeal is here. All parties that wished to, have made submissions on it. The issue to be determined is fairly simple, and no party will suffer any prejudice if we determine the merits at this stage. Requiring the Minister of State Security to go back and follow the normal appellate hierarchy or to bring a proper application for leave to appeal directly to us would be placing formalism ahead of what the interests of justice dictate. The appeal on the surveillance issue will thus be entertained. But this judgment must not be read to say that in comparable situations leave to appeal is not necessary. The determinant will be the circumstances of each case. [128] Coming to the merits of the appeal, the Minister of State Security argues that the answer to the question at hand lies in a proper interpretation of section 2 of the National Strategic Intelligence Act159 (NSIA). She argues that in terms of this section, the state is empowered, subject to section 3 of the NSIA,160 to “gather, correlate, evaluate and analyse” various types of intelligence in order to identify any threat, potential or otherwise, to national security. This provision, she argues, authorises the state to conduct bulk surveillance. Furthermore, RICA provides sufficient safeguards designed to ensure that this practice is not susceptible to abuse and unlawful invasion of privacy. The High Court disagreed with this interpretation, and held that the state’s practice of bulk surveillance is not authorised by the NSIA or any other law, and is thus unlawful. [129] The impact of bulk surveillance is highlighted by the third amicus. That amicus argues that: bulk surveillance entails the interception of virtually all internet traffic without a warrant or suspicion about the people whose communications are intercepted, and without statutory safeguards; no legal limits are placed on how data obtained 159 39 of 1994. 160 Section 2(3) of the NSIA provides: “It shall be the function of the South African Police Service, subject to section 3- (a) to gather, correlate, evaluate, co-ordinate and use crime intelligence in support of the objects of the South African Police Service as contemplated in section 205 (3) of the Constitution; (b) to institute counter-intelligence measures within the South African Police Service; and (c) to supply crime intelligence relating to national strategic intelligence to National Intelligence Co-ordinating Committee.” 67