Govt unable to confirm Ramaphosa phone hacking
Acting Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni says government is unable to confirm whether an attempted or successful hacking of President Cyril Ramaphosa's phone took place.
Ntshavheni has been reacting to an international media report that Ramaphosa was among those targeted by spyware.
British newspaper The Guardian said this week that the president's cell phone number was on a leaked list of potential Pegasus targets.
The targeting was apparently done on behalf of Rwanda.
Ramaphosa and French President Emmanuel Macron are reportedly two of the 14-world leaders targeted by the Israeli-made spyware programme.
Journalists and activists are said to also appear on a list of alleged targets selected for potential surveillance.
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Ntshavheni said: "We believe that that infringes not only on the privacy of the president but also infringes on the sovereignty of this country to make its own decisions without other countries trying to pre-empt those decisions and influence them.
"If you read the report, they were not saying that was actioned. So the State Security Agencies will have to look at whether the phone of the president tampered with."
Macron's holding an urgent national security meeting on Thursday to discuss the reports.
Meanwhile, an official at Israeli cybersecurity company NSO Group says the firm's controversial Pegasus spyware tool was not used to target Macron.
